https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/2979 Fri, 19 Jun 2026 14:13:14 GMT 2026-06-19T14:13:14Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32557 A Thomistic critical realist reading of beauty in physics as an argument for the existence of God D'Antuono, Matthew In Thomist metaphysics, beauty is defined as unity, harmony and clarity. In a word, beauty is order. Philosophers have attempted to arrive at a definition of beauty on the basis of physicists’ descriptions of physics; however, physicists’ accounts are not always consistent. Thomist aesthetics, however, adequately accounts for the various understandings of beauty on which physicists insist. Such attributions of beauty to physics as well as the entire practice of physics find themselves in danger if physics is viewed through an instrumentalist lens. Critical realism is necessary in order for such statements about beauty in physics to mean what physicists intend them to mean. Also, if beauty is real and critical realism accounts correctly for beauty and physics, then it can be argued that God exists via the Fourth Way of Thomas Aquinas, which finds evidence for the existence of God in gradations in things. The gradation of perfections such as nobility, goodness and truth implies the existence of some maximum perfection, which is God. It is argued in this thesis that although not mentioned by Aquinas in his corpus, beauty is one of those perfections. This constitutes a new argument for the existence of God on the basis of beauty.; In Thomistese metafisika word skoonheid omskryf as eenheid, harmonie en duidelikheid. Met ander woorde, skoonheid is orde. Filosowe het probeer om skoonheid op grond van fisici se beskrywings van fisika te omskryf, maar fisici se weergawes is nie altyd konsekwent nie. Thomistiese estetika verduidelik die verskillende begrippe van skoonheid waarop fisici aandring egter voldoende. Sulke toeskrywings van skoonheid aan fisika en die praktyk van fisika as geheel verkeer in gevaar as fisika deur 'n instrumentalistiese lens beskou word. Kritiese realisme is nodig om seker te maak dat sulke verklarings oor skoonheid in fisika beteken wat fisici bedoel het hulle moet beteken. Verder, as skoonheid werklik bestaan en kritiese realisme korrek rekening gee van skoonheid en fisika, kan daar aangevoer word dat God via die Vierde Weg van Thomas Aquinas bestaan, wat bewyse vir die bestaan van God in gradasies van dinge vind. Die gradering van volmaakthede soos adelikheid, goedheid en waarheid impliseer die bestaan van die een of ander maksimum volmaaktheid – wat God is. In hierdie proefskrif word daar aangevoer dat alhoewel Aquinas nie daarvan melding maak in sy korpus nie, is skoonheid een van hierdie volmaakthede. Dit is 'n nuwe argument vir die bestaan van God op grond van skoonheid.; Kwisifundo se-Thomist metaphysics, ubuhle buchazwa njengobumbano, ukuzwana nokucacisa. Ngamafuphi nje, ubuhle buwukuhleleka. Izazi zefilosofi zike zazama ukufika encazelweni yobuhle ngesisekelo sezincazelo zezazi ze-fiziksi; nokho-ke, ama-akhawunti ezazi zefiziksi awahlezi ehamba ngendlela eyodwa. I-Thomist aesthetics, nokho-ke, ilandisa ngokwanele ukuqonda okuhlukahlukene kobuhle lapho izazi ze-fiziksi zigcizelela khona. Ukuchazwa okunjalo kobuhle kwi-fiziksi kanye nawowonke umkhuba we-physics kuzithola kusengozini uma i-fiziksi ibhekwa ngelensi yezinsiza. Kudingeka iqiniso elibucayi ukuze lezo zitatimende mayelana nobuhle kuphysics zisho lokho izazi ze-fiziksi ezihlose ukuba zisho. Futhi, uma ubuhle bungokoqobo futhi buyiqiniso elibucayi bulandisa kahle ngobuhle kanye ne-fiziksi, khona-ke kungaphikiswana ngokuthi uNkulunkulu ukhona ngeNdlela yesine ka- Thomas Aquinas, ethola ubufakazi bobukhona bukaNkulunkulu ngokuhlukaniswa kwezinto. Ukwehlukaniswa kwezinga lokuphelela okufana nezikhulu, ubuhle kanye neqiniso kusho ukuba khona kokupheleliswa okukhulu, okunguNkulunkulu. Kuphikiswana ngayo kule thesis ukuthi nakuba kungashiwongo ngu-Aquinas kucorpus yakhe, ubuhle bungenye yalezo zimfanelo. Lokhu kwakha impikiswano entsha yobukhona bukaNkulunkulu ngesisekelo sobuhle. Abstract in English, Afrikaans and Zulu Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32557 2026-02-05T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32154 Narrative decolonisation of the person in post-apartheid South Africa: reflections by pastoral a therapist Mpako, Dabula Anthony The historical systems of white supremacy, colonialism and apartheid (in South Africa) have had far-reaching effects on the person on both sides of the divide. All have, albeit in different ways and to varying degrees, been shaped in fundamental ways by these closely related discourses. The thesis addresses this reality. Firstly, it exposes these effects, identifying and naming them on the basis of the stories of six real people on the one hand, and critical social analysis by a selected group of prominent social analysts, in the past and in the present – from Franz Fanon in the 1950s to Critical Whiteness scholars in the contemporary world – on the other. The exposition extends to the pastoral context of Christianity and the Church, focusing mainly on the effects of Christianity’s historical collusion with white supremacy, colonialism and apartheid (in South Africa). Secondly, the thesis engages with social constructionist discourse as appropriated by narrative therapy to interpret the identified effects and to elucidate the deeper dynamics involved. Thirdly, using a narrative way of working, the thesis proposes a map of decolonisation practices for use in group or community work, in the pastoral context of the Church and beyond, with the purpose of facilitating the construction of an alternative discourse, characterised by more ethical and more lifegiving ways of being and relating. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32154 2008-12-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/31939 Crossbearers as the messianic generation: towards a black radical Christology Africa, Obakeng South Africa is in crisis, and theologians have been grappling with the theological significance of this state of affairs. In the realm of black theology, many have expressed concern around the discursive malaise this theological tradition is currently experiencing. On the other hand, theologians are still coming to terms with the epistemological break that Fallism introduced into popular discourse in the country. Some theologians have responded to the movement, but no theologian has articulated a theological contribution from the movement itself. The following study is an attempt to articulate a theological expression of Fallism while not falling into the excesses of the philosophical framework. Through the black Christology of Takatso Mofokeng, I seek to articulate a Fallist response to the central question of his Christological framework, “how can faith in Jesus Christ empower black people who are involved in the struggle for their liberation?” (Mofokeng, 1983, p. x) To answer this question, I stage a critical encounter between black theology and radical theology. This theoretical encounter is staged in the following manner. First, I make the case for the discursive contact between black theology and radical theology. Second, I do a thematic survey of the motif of identity in Mofokeng’s Christology. Third, I explore an alternative hermeneutical orientation that can help address the limitations of the motif of identity in Mofokeng’s Christology through John D. Caputo’s radical theology. Specifically, I explore his hermeneutics of the call. I then bring this to a head by articulating a Christian Fallism and its corollary circumfessional orientation. In short, Christian Fallism is my post-1994 answer to the central question in Mofokeng’s Christology. This answer is inflected with the critical intuitions of Fallism. An inflection which serves as a theoretical extension to the Black Consciousness philosophical framework that Mofokeng had to work with. Fallism extends this by also drawing from black radical feminism, and Pan-Africanism with specific attention to the historical conditions of South Africa today. The corollary circumfessional orientation that I bring into the discourse is a measure that is meant to guard against the logics of community that both black theology and Fallism run afoul of. Wed, 15 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/31939 2024-05-15T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/31882 The centrality of the Holy Spirit in God’s grand acts of creation, reconciliation, renewal and fulfilment : the kingdom of God and culture Hoffman, Pavel The Spirit is the overall renewing and liberating presence-maker of God’s grand acts of creation, reconciliation, renewal and fulfilment. Not as doctrines, but these acts while we are involved therein are the ortho-experiential drivers of our reflective experience in which we reflectively pattern and process our daily experiences. The centrality of the role of the Spirit in four grand acts of God continuously opens up our awareness of our creatureliness, awareness of sin, awareness of being reconciled, awareness of being in an ongoing renewal process and awareness of the dawning of our fulfilment in our everyday experience. Taking an all-encompassing approach, the Spirit is not only present in love with every creature, but in many mysterious ways that we have never imagined possible. It is through the presence of the Spirit that the creatures of the universe are brought into communion with one another. The Spirit of God then embraces individuals, but he also enables them to exist in a social environment, that is, in an interrelated world of created beings, bringing them and keeping them within the ambit of God’s creation, reconciliation, renewal, and fulfilment of everything. Understanding the key concepts of experience and speculation is important, as well as grasping the different theological approaches to the Trinitarian scheme. At the same time, the doctrine of Revelation in form of Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Culture demonstrates how different understanding of Revelation brings about the different understandings of God (and concretely the Spirit) on the part of any Christian. Hermeneutically, the role of the Holy Spirit and God’s grand acts is to be attested by the Bible in consensual negotiation. Finally, the central role of Spirit opens up the reflective vista of the Kingdom of God as a dynamic meandering through God’s four grand acts at the end of historical time and as the only access area where people’s culture, religiosity, ethnicity, social status and language may be reflected on. Typological approaches describing the relationship between Christ and culture in Niebuhr’s work need to be compared and evaluated, leading to a deeper discussion about the ‘interminable’ and conflicting relationship between the world and state represented by culture on the one side and Christianity represented by the Spirit on the other. Tue, 30 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/31882 2024-01-30T00:00:00Z