Filosoofia osakonna magistritööd – Master's theses

Selle kollektsiooni püsiv URIhttps://hdl.handle.net/10062/35473

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What persists and what transforms: agent-regret over time : master's thesis in philosophy
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Zhou, Jiashan; Heidy Meriste, juhendaja; Tiina Johanna Pitkäjärvi, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis focuses on agent-regret, the distinctively first-personal form of regret Bernard Williams describes as directed toward one’s own past actions. Existing discussions have mainly focused on whether agent-regret is reducible to other emotions, and whether it is rational for a blameless agent to feel it. I ask what makes agent-regret persist over time, and through what process it persists. I argue, first, that the constitutive core of agent-regret is agentive relation: a first-personal, inextricable relation of attribution between the agent and their past action. Second, I argue that the persistence of agent-regret should be understood as a transformation of experience. Through conceptual analysis, phenomenological description, and close reading of first-person testimony, the thesis shows that this persistence carries emotional weight, which comes from the tension between agentive relation and narrative self-understanding. Drawing on Ricoeur’s narrative identity framework and Ratcliffe’s account of existential feeling, I argue that this emotional weight can gradually sediment, moving from the felt quality of a foreground episodic emotion into a background sense of distrust in one’s own agency.
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Autonoomiaesteetikast ja tema genealoogiast
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Ruus, Aurora; Andrus Tool, juhendaja; Toomas Siitan, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
Käesolevas magistritöös uurin autonoomiaesteetikat kui lääne kunstmuusikale omast paradigma, mille keskne kategooria on oma varasemast funktsionaalsusest ning muusikat reguleerinud institutsioonidest ja konventsioonidest emantsipeerunud muusikateos. Ühes autonoomiaesteetika esiletõusuga 18. sajandi lõpusrigel muutus autonoomne muusikateos lääne kunstmuusikas domineerivaks ja regulatiivseks, ent autonoomiaesteetikast lähtuvad arusaamad ja väärtushinnangud mõjutavad laiemalt nii muusika komponeerimist, esitamist, muusikakriitikat, -teadust, -historiograafiat kui ka -haridust. Magistritöö eesmärk on problematiseerida autonoomiaesteetikast lähtuvat muusika staatust ning uurida, kuidas mõjutavad sellest tingitud arusaamad ja väärtushinnangud tänapäeva muusikakultuuri. Käsitledes autonoomiesteetikat genealoogilise lähenemisviisi valguses, analüüsin selle paradigma esiletõusu eelduseid laiemates kultuurilistes, sotsiaalsetes ja poliitilistes oludes ning toon välja selle tähendusvaldkonnad ja väljendused.
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Suspended time, lost space: architecture and dwelling in the regime of presentism
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Sun, Peijin; Siobhan Kattago, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This study examines suspended time and lost space as two faces of a single predicament of modernity, asking whether dwelling remains possible in a world thoroughly mediated by technology and capital. The first part argues that when the tension between past experience and future expectation is stretched to breaking point by the accelerating logic of contemporary society, the production of historical time enters a state of suspension. What remains is an infinitely expanding present that ceaselessly renews itself yet moves nowhere. This temporal structure finds its perfect spatial counterpart in modern architecture, which has been progressively stripped of its temporal depth and degenerates into a smooth conduit serving immediate circulation. The energies of modernization no longer project forward into time but fall back entropically into space. The second part turns from diagnosis to action. Rejecting the gesture of returning to a pre-technological origin, the study argues that technology is the constitutive condition of human existence rather than its antithesis. The reinvention of dwelling lies in discerning, within each specific technological configuration, the distribution of toxicity and curative potential, and in preserving the conditions under which the subject can still be touched by the world. Miyashita Park in Tokyo is taken as a case study of such a pharmacological space.
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Irreducible justice: Benjamin, Derrida, and the tension of divine violence
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Li, Zheyi; Siobhan Kattago, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis examines Walter Benjamin’s concept of divine violence and Jacques Derrida’s critique of it. Benjamin understands divine violence as a force that is connected with the realization of justice by interrupting or even destroying the legal order. Derrida argues that the purity of divine violence cannot be maintained. As a result, divine violence may be confused with the violence it is supposed to interrupt, or even used to justify extreme violence. However, I argue that their disagreement presupposes a shared critical position: justice cannot be fully reduced to law. This irreducibility of justice can only be understood within a tensional relation, which I call immanent irreducibility. On this basis, I argue that divine violence, as a manifestation of justice, should be understood through the tension between its practical meaning and its critical meaning. Therefore, the tension of divine violence is not a defect to be eliminated, but a basic feature to be preserved. Finally, by turning to Franz Kafka’s works, I demonstrate that this tension can be preserved in literary form.
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The applicability of mathematics as an epistemic problem
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Soon, Liis; Indrek Lõbus, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis examines the problem of the applicability of mathematics in empirical science, commonly associated with Wigner’s “unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics.” The central aim is methodological: to determine how the problem of applicability ought to be formulated. The thesis argues for the applicability of mathematics as an epistemic problem. In the first part, some influential formulations are rejected because of their reliance on overly narrow or untenable assumptions about mathematics, empirical science, or their relation, specifically those focused on mathematics-led discovery, the role of aesthetics in mathematics, the metaphysical gap between mathematics and physics, and the use of idealisations. The second part looks at the variety of ways in which mathematics is applied—semantic, descriptive, deductive, non-standard, unificatory, and explanatory—and argues that all but semantic applicability can be understood through deductive applicability, namely the use of mathematical statements as premises in deductions with empirical conclusions. The final part develops an epistemic version of the problem centred on deductive applicability: mathematical statements, generally taken to be empirically indefeasible, transmit justification to conclusions that are defeasible by empirical evidence. The thesis concludes by defending this formulation of the problem and examining how several influential philosophies of mathematics respond to it.
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What makes the emotion of being moved an aesthetic emotion?
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Jeong, MyungHoon; Riin Sirkel, juhendaja; Uku Tooming, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis investigates the nature of being moved as an aesthetic emotion. Although being moved is frequently regarded as an aesthetic emotion, the grounds for this classification have rarely been fully explained. Drawing on the accounts of Florian Cova and Julien Deonna (2014) and Winfried Menninghaus et al. (2018), I argue that truthfulness functions as a central evaluative concern in experiences of being moved by artworks. By truthfulness, I mean the evaluative concern through which appreciators assess how artworks disclose and embody meaningful human concerns through artistic organization. To develop this claim, I introduce the concept of aesthetic transparency as an aesthetic virtue related to experiences of being moved, understood as the capacity of artworks to make complex or conflicting aspects of human experience intelligible through honest realization and faithful realization. Finally, I address several potential objections to this account, including sappy film cases, conceptual conflation, and the concern that my account over-intellectualizes experiences of being moved.
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Carl Schmitt and the Kremlin: the aestheticised politics of sovereignty in contemporary Russia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Sahan, Oles; Siobhan Kattago, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis examines contemporary Russian politics through the framework of Carl Schmitt’s political theory, arguing that the friend-enemy distinction structures Russian sovereign power not only conceptually but through concrete aesthetic practices. It contends that Schmitt’s core concepts (sovereignty, the state of exception, and the political) are inseparable from an aesthetic dimension: they require public embodiment, rhetorical staging, and symbolic form in order to become politically operative. This constitutive role of the aesthetic has been largely neglected in existing Schmittian analyses of Russia, and the thesis addresses the gap directly. Applying this expanded framework to the Russian case, the thesis analyses three sites of aestheticised sovereignty: the mythologisation of Putin’s sovereign body as the visible embodiment of political unity; the rhetorical crystallisation of the friend-enemy line in key speeches and legislative instruments, most notably Decree no. 809 on “traditional values”; and the condensation of political theology in the Cathedral of the Armed Forces. Together, these cases demonstrate that the Russian state does not merely invoke Schmittian categories but enacts them, sustaining a permanent state of exception and legitimising wars of aggression through the staged production of existential enmity.
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Epistemic injustice in the transgender and gender diverse patient-doctor relationship
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Bukonte, Evita; Kadri Simm, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
In this thesis, I apply concepts of epistemic injustice- wrong done to one as a knower- to qualitative data that describes transgender and gender diverse (TGD) patients' interactions with doctors and other healthcare employees. The analysis of the data through the concepts shows that both kinds of epistemic injustice described by Miranda Fricker, testimonial injustice and hermeneutical injustice, as well as Kristie Dotson's concept of testimonial smothering and Gale Pohlhaus Jr.’s concept of willfull hermeneutical ignorance, occur in the TGD patient- doctor relationship. The data was collected through interviews with Latvian TGD people who have received gender-affirming healthcare. The data was split into four themes through a thematic analysis. Each theme reveals that at least one kind of epistemic injustice occurs throughout the theme. The epistemic kind of injustice reveals itself by blocking the intake of knowledge of TGD people's identities and access to gender-affirming care in medical interactions.
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The social demands of political equality: Hannah Arendt, Charles. W. Mills, and the limits of formal equality in American public-school racial segregation
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Korb, Emma Louise; Siobhan Kattago, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
Mills Racial Contract theory, which he presents in his book The Racial Contract (1997), illustrates how political personhood has historical been restricted through law in United States to a privileged white polity since the country’s founding. This racialized political oppression creates social inequalities, and those social inequalities continue reproducing political inequality to maintain themselves even after discriminatory laws are removed. Therefore, genuine political equality requires movement toward social justice. Arendt’s political framework which she applied to school desegregation efforts in the American South in her article “Reflections on Little Rock” (1959) ignores the political relevance of segregation. She uses her ideal philosophical categories which strictly divide the political and social realms to American school integration despite their inability to fully describe the practical reality of racial domination. This error causes her to come to the false conclusion that political equality can be achieved while social segregation of public schools is allowed to go on. I conclude that Mills offers a stronger framework for understanding how racist social preferences sustain white supremacist racial domination in American political life and therefore cannot be understood as a purely social issue which does not necessitate political interference as Arendt claims in “Reflections on Little Rock”.
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From private choice to moral responsibility: education and disclosure as preconditions for relationships and procreation
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Sharma, Vishal; Francesco Orsi, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis explores if intimate relationships and procreation should continue to be understood as purely private matters or if they generate broader moral responsibilities due to their foreseeable consequences for partners, children, and society. Societies treat relationship formation as a domain of unrestricted personal freedom, despite the significant emotional, psychological, and social harms that may arise from unprepared relationships and unstable family environments. Based on Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics and W.D. Ross’s Theory of Prima Facie Duties and by engaging with the works of Hugh LaFollette and Christopher Freiman, this thesis argues that relational and procreative decisions possess ethical importance because they affect vulnerable and dependent individuals especially future children. This thesis further develops a risk-based moral framework supported by empirical research concerning adverse childhood experiences, relational instability, and social outcomes. In response, it proposes a non-coercive model consisting of Procreative Readiness Education (PRE) and a system of mutual disclosure intended to promote informed and responsible decision making while preserving individual freedom. This thesis concludes by arguing that ethical preparation and transparency should be understood as important conditions for responsible relationships and parenthood.
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Misplacing environmental responsibility : a causal, political, and ontological critique of green consumerism and the case for relational repair
(Tartu Ülikool, 2026) Jiang, Xiaoming; Kadri Simm, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis argues that there are three main ways in which responsibilities are misallocated in the environmental responsibility model of green consumerism. First, at the causal level, green consumerism overemphasizes the importance of individual consumption while underestimating the role of industrial production, energy systems, firms, and institutions in the ecological crisis. Secondly, at the political level, it individualizes and marketizes responsibilities, so that some enterprises, rich individuals, or collectives can obtain green legitimacy. If responsibility is distributed equally among all consumers, it will be unfair to many ordinary people who have no money or resources; if it is not equalized, the rich can take this opportunity to gain a moral advantage. However, while buying green, they still emit and consume more resources. Third, at the ontological level, green consumerism tends to reproduce a subject–object relation between humans and nature, and a human-centered model of domination. This thesis draws on some moral responsibility theories, Marx, Marcuse, deep ecology, ecofeminism, and care ethics to argue that ecological responsibility should not be centered on individual consumption choices. Instead, ecological responsibility should be understood as relational repair: repairing damaged relationships between humans and nature, between humans, and between current and future generations.
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The combatant-institution proximity framework as a tool for understanding moral injury in war
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Rambish, Natalie; Kattago, Siobhan, juhendaja; Piirimäe, Pärtel; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
Moral injury fractures the core of a combatant’s identity and disrupts their capacity for meaning-making. In the wake of violent and morally complex events of war, those who suffer from moral injury often have difficulty living with themselves or commit suicide. This thesis develops the Combatant-Institution Proximity Framework, a three-tier model that illustrates the metaphorical distance between the individual combatant and the institutional-legal domain of moral conduct in war. Chapter 1 establishes a moral injury as a form of trauma, arising from events of perpetration, betrayal, witnessing, or irresolvable moral conflict. Chapter 2 analyzes combatant identity through social, relational, and narrative theories, showing how symptoms of moral injury sever ties to meaningful identities and relationships, demonstrating that the sociocultural domain engulfs a combatant. Chapter 3 explores institutional and legal frameworks, including just war theory and the U.S. JAG Corps. Throughout, case studies highlight leadership’s dual roll enforcing institutional moral standards, and cultivating a moral climate withing their unit. Ultimately, this thesis argues that moral injury exposes the gap between their personal beliefs and the morals that the institutions and laws of ethical warfare strive to uphold. The framework developed aids in understanding this gap.
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Reflections on nihilism: the search for God in modern times : master's thesis in philosophy
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Panaro, Lars; Sooväli, Jaanus, juhendaja; Kustassoo, Karin, juhendaja; Pajević, Marko, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis explores the question of ‘where might God be for us today?’ in light of Nietzsche’s diagnostic utterance concerning the modern age as one where ‘God is dead’ (nihilism) and existence seems ontologically meaningless. In order to address this question I examine two philosophical responses that took Nietzsche’s utterance to heart: Martin Heidegger and Martin Buber. I afford special emphasis to the divine in relationship to modernity in their respective ontologies. What Nietzsche referred to as nihilism, Heidegger refers to as the abandonment of Being (Seinsverlassenheit), and Buber refers to as the Eclipse of God (Gotterfinsternis). The thesis proceeds on the basis that ‘God’ has always been an integral and ‘question worthy’ part of the meaning of human existence and cannot merely be written off as a lie or fabrication, but instead demands philosophical scrutiny. By examining the insights of these thinkers together we are afforded a holistic understanding of nihilism and the question of God in the modern world.
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Avaliku mõistuse rakendamine valitud Eesti seadustele: probleemid praktikas ja teoorias
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Daniel, Oliver; Volberg, Mats, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
Antud magistritöös uurin avaliku mõistuse abil kahele Eesti seadusele, milleks on abieluvõrdsuse ja mootorsõidukimaksu seadused, antud õigustusi. Eesmärgiks on kontrollida, kui hästi on nimetatud seadusi õigustatud ja uurida avaliku mõistuse laia vaate rakendamise tagajärgi praktikas. Töö teesiks on, et lai vaade tuleb tagasi lükata. Kasutatud õigustuste uurimisel tuvastan mitmeid probleeme. Uurimistulemuste põhjal kritiseerin avaliku mõistuse teooriad kahel moel. Esiteks pole teooriates piisavalt tähelepanu pööratud sobiliku institutsionaalse konteksti kirjeldamisele. Teiseks toob lai vaade endaga kaasa otsustamisvõimetuse probleemi tõenäosuse suurenemise, mis takistab parlamendil seaduste vastuvõtmist või tagasilükkamist. Kaasnevate negatiivsete tagajärgede vältimiseks tulebki lai vaade tagasi lükata.
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In support of the neurodiversity paradigm: from disorder to divergence
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Lang, Heldi Marleen; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis examines the advantages of the neurodiversity paradigm over the medical model in classifying neurological variations as either disorders or divergences, particularly about addressing ontic and epistemic injustice. I introduce two new terms, disorder theory and divergence theory, to examine on what grounds autism or ADHD, for example, would be considered either a mental disorder or an aspect of human diversity. I argue that divergence theory offers a more precise framework for understanding neurological variations than disorder theory and that its adoption would help mitigate epistemic and ontic injustices.
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The problem of creepy personalised recommendations in banks
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Yaroshyk, Palina; Davies, Alexander Stewart, juhendaja; Kitt, Lennart, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis set out to investigate two primary questions: (1) what makes some personalised recommendations from banks feel creepy, and (2) how banks can maintain highly personalised recommendations while eliminating creepiness. To address these questions, the thesis employed a strategy of first establishing a theoretical framework, examining cases where the risk of creepiness is lower or absent compared to the same recommendation given in different context, and, finally, proposing some practical solutions for banks based on the insights gained, aiming to preserve the benefits of personalisation and eliminate the harms of creepiness.
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A philosophical approach to CETI: developing a conceptual framework based on Umwelt theory
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Pasha, Chingiz; Mölder, Bruno, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis critiques the assumptions underlying the argument of Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CETI) research, which presumes that extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) would possess human-like features and technologies, and that communication with ETI would rely on the information-transmission model. These premises are refuted by exposing their reliance on anthropocentric and vague definitions of "intelligence" and "communication." Afterward, a conceptual framework based on Umwelt theory is proposed to address these issues, emphasizing the diversity of subjective worlds (Umwelten) of organisms, the concept of "commonage" as shared aspects of these subjective worlds, and communication as the exchange of signs based on the commonage among organisms. Lastly, intelligence is redefined as a relational feature of shared Umwelten emerging from communication. The thesis argues for dividing CETI into two distinct research areas with a more explicit scope for each: the search for extraterrestrial organisms (SEO) and the discovery of terrestrial types of intelligence (DTI). Broader implications within philosophy, semiotics, and interdisciplinary research are also explored, emphasizing the necessity of avoiding the widespread anthropocentric approach in studying intelligence and communication.
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Kutseõppijate infovajaduste rahuldamist soodustavad ja pärssivad tegurid : (Võrumaa Kutsehariduskeskuse raamatukogu näitel)
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Pungits, Ülle; Einasto, Olga, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
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The ethical design of sex robots
(Tartu Ülikool, 2024-08) Mizrak, Ezgi; Orsi, Francesco, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
This thesis examines ethical concerns arising from the development and use of sex robots, advocating for a harm reduction model rather than a complete ban or complete deregulation. The analysis compares ethical arguments for and against sex robots. According to the findings, it argued that sex robots can be more beneficial than harmful for women and disadvantaged groups through ethical design choices. In particular, this thesis argues that sex robots should be designed to include a consent module to mimic and teach users about morally appropriate consent negotiation. Finally, the thesis defends sexual technology by aiming to increase the visibility of female sexuality and desire by discussing how the right ethical design choices can be made to maximize the benefits and minimize the harm of sex robots.
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How does psychotherapy work? A cognitive neuroscience-based framework for understanding therapeutic change
(Tartu Ülikool, 2024) Kabrel, Mykyta; Aru, Jaan, juhendaja; Mölder, Bruno, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Humanitaarteaduste ja kunstide valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Filosoofia osakond
One of the key mechanisms by which psychotherapy facilitates positive change is by enhancing an individual's awareness of the internal and external factors that contribute to their problems. While this provides a conceptual understanding of psychotherapy, a more rigorous and precise mechanistic explanation is often lacking. In this thesis, I present a novel theoretical framework for understanding psychotherapy based on contemporary cognitive and computational neuroscience. I propose that enhancing awareness can be likened to mental navigation – the ability to navigate our representational space, which includes memories, concepts, ideas, images, etc. This navigation process involves exploring, identifying, and reconfiguring cognitive maps and schemas facilitated by neurobiological mechanisms similar to those involved in spatial navigation. The outcome of this thesis is an intuitively understandable conceptual framework and a biologically plausible mechanistic explanation of therapeutic change.

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