308 research outputs found

    A Theistic Critique of Secular Moral Nonnaturalism

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    This dissertation is an exercise in Theistic moral apologetics. It will be developing both a critique of secular nonnaturalist moral theory (moral Platonism) at the level of metaethics, as well as a positive form of the moral argument for the existence of God that follows from this critique. The critique will focus on the work of five prominent metaethical theorists of secular moral non-naturalism: David Enoch, Eric Wielenberg, Russ Shafer-Landau, Michael Huemer, and Christopher Kulp. Each of these thinkers will be critically examined. Following this critique, the positive moral argument for the existence of God will be developed, combining a cumulative, abductive argument that follows from filling in the content of a succinct apagogic argument. The cumulative abductive argument and the apagogic argument together, with a transcendental and modal component, will be presented to make the case that Theism is the best explanation for the kind of moral, rational beings we are and the kind of universe in which we live, a rational intelligible universe

    New perspectives on A.I. in sentencing. Human decision-making between risk assessment tools and protection of humans rights.

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    The aim of this thesis is to investigate a field that until a few years ago was foreign to and distant from the penal system. The purpose of this undertaking is to account for the role that technology could plays in the Italian Criminal Law system. More specifically, this thesis attempts to scrutinize a very intricate phase of adjudication. After deciding on the type of an individual's liability, a judge must decide on the severity of the penalty. This type of decision implies a prognostic assessment that looks to the future. It is precisely in this field and in prognostic assessments that, as has already been anticipated in the United, instruments and processes are inserted in the pre-trial but also in the decision-making phase. In this contribution, we attempt to describe the current state of this field, trying, as a matter of method, to select the most relevant or most used tools. Using comparative and qualitative methods, the uses of some of these instruments in the supranational legal system are analyzed. Focusing attention on the Italian system, an attempt was made to investigate the nature of the element of an individual's ‘social dangerousness’ (pericolosità sociale) and capacity to commit offences, types of assessments that are fundamental in our system because they are part of various types of decisions, including the choice of the best sanctioning treatment. It was decided to turn our attention to this latter field because it is believed that the judge does not always have the time, the means and the ability to assess all the elements of a subject and identify the best 'individualizing' treatment in order to fully realize the function of Article 27, paragraph 3 of the Constitution

    Investigating Digital Corporate Reporting from an Upper Echelons Theory Perspective: Evidence from the Arab Middle East

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    Utilising the insights of Upper Echelons Theory (UET) and bounded rationality assumption, this original study aimed to investigate the association between corporate leaders’ characteristics and both the extent and readability of Digital Corporate Reporting (DCR). Content analysis of corporate websites of 122 publicly listed Jordananian firms has been carried out. The logistics regression analysis revealed that maintaining a functioning corporate website is inversely associated with CEO age. This indicates that younger CEOs are more likely to retain a web presence for the firm than their older counterparts. The OLS regression analysis revealed that CEOs’ education and tenure were negatively associated with the extent of DCR. Moreover, it was found that Corporate Governance (CG) moderating variables hardly lessen this relationship. The results confirm the current thoughts regarding the rise of CEO effects in corporations with unique evidence from the Arab Middle East (AME). Building on the previous evidence, the study also aimed at uncovering the association between chairman characteristics and the readability of the digital version of the chairman’s Letter to Shareholders (LTS). A hand-built dataset from a sample of 379 LTS from 101 publicly listed firms in 7 AME countries over five years (2014 – 2018) were employed to achieve this objective. Focusing on the clarity of DCR, the results of this second part of this study emphasizes the potential of UET to provide incremental plausible explanations of the variance in the levels of readability of LTS. The clustered regression results of the panel data demonstrate that older and less educated chairpersons are associated with more readable disclosures. Such findings on disclosure styles demonstrate the power of individuals in positions of authority as a consequence of higher education and tenure. Such findings contribute to the evolving inquiry on the significance of readability for enhancing corporate disclosure transparency and have implications for improving the DCR extent and readability

    The Basic Needs in Games (BANG) Model of Video Games and Mental Health: Untangling the Positive and Negative Effects of Games with Better Science

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    How do video games affect mental health? Despite decades of research and widespread interest from policymakers, parents, and players, in most cases the best answer we have is: it depends. I argue that our limited success stems largely from (1) a lack of theories that explain more than small portions of the varied evidence base, and (2) methodological limitations related to measurement, self-report data, questionable research practices, and more. In this thesis, I present the Basic Needs in Games (BANG) model. Building upon self-determination theory, BANG offers a novel theoretical account that provides mechanisms for both short- and long-term effects, positive and negative, resulting from quality or quantity of gaming. Under BANG, the primary mechanism through which games impact mental health is via need satisfaction and frustration: the extent to which both games, and players’ life in general, provide experiences of control and volition (autonomy), mastery and growth (competence), and connection and belonging (relatedness). To generate BANG, I conducted semi-structured interviews, finding that need-frustrating experiences within games have important effects on player behavior, likelihood of continuing play, and expectations for future experiences (Study 1). In a mixed-method survey, I show that some—but not all—players are successful in compensating for frustrated needs in daily life by playing games (Study 2). These findings informed the validation of the the Basic Needs in Games Scale (BANGS), as previous instruments either did not measure need frustration or were not designed for gaming contexts. Across 1400 participants and various validity analyses, I show that the questionnaire is suitable for wide-ranging use (Study 3). Finally, I collected 12 weeks of digital trace data using a novel method of monitoring the Xbox network, and combined this with 6 biweekly surveys measuring need satisfaction and frustration alongside three mental health constructs (Study 4). Across 2000 responses (n = 400), I find partial support for BANG: there is strong evidence to rule out a meaningful relationship between playtime and subsequent mental health. However, players who felt more need satisfaction than usual in games also reported higher than usual need satisfaction in general, which in turn related to better mental health. My results help push the field beyond simplified notions of playtime by offering a framework that can systematically account for a wide variety of observed gaming effects. I hope that this work can serve as both a call to action and an illustrative example of how games research can be more productive

    (Im)probable stories:combining Bayesian and explanation-based accounts of rational criminal proof

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    A key question in criminal trials is, ‘may we consider the facts of the case proven?’ Partially in response to miscarriages of justice, philosophers, psychologists and mathematicians have considered how we can answer this question rationally. The two most popular answers are the Bayesian and the explanation-based accounts. Bayesian models cast criminal evidence in terms of probabilities. Explanation-based approaches view the criminal justice process as a comparison between causal explanations of the evidence. Such explanations usually take the form of scenarios – stories about how a crime was committed. The two approaches are often seen as rivals. However, this thesis argues that both perspectives are necessary for a good theory of rational criminal proof. By comparing scenarios, we can, among other things, determine what the key evidence is, how the items of evidence interrelate, and what further evidence to collect. Bayesian probability theory helps us pinpoint when we can and cannot conclude that a scenario is likely to be true. This thesis considers several questions regarding criminal evidence from this combined perspective, such as: can a defendant sometimes be convicted on the basis of an implausible guilt scenario? When can we assume that we are not overlooking scenarios or evidence? Should judges always address implausible innocence scenarios of the accused? When is it necessary to look for new evidence? How do we judge whether an eyewitness is reliable? By combining the two theories, we arrive at new insights on how to rationally reason about these, and other questions surrounding criminal evidence

    Augmented Behavioral Annotation Tools, with Application to Multimodal Datasets and Models: A Systematic Review

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    Annotation tools are an essential component in the creation of datasets for machine learning purposes. Annotation tools have evolved greatly since the turn of the century, and now commonly include collaborative features to divide labor efficiently, as well as automation employed to amplify human efforts. Recent developments in machine learning models, such as Transformers, allow for training upon very large and sophisticated multimodal datasets and enable generalization across domains of knowledge. These models also herald an increasing emphasis on prompt engineering to provide qualitative fine-tuning upon the model itself, adding a novel emerging layer of direct machine learning annotation. These capabilities enable machine intelligence to recognize, predict, and emulate human behavior with much greater accuracy and nuance, a noted shortfall of which have contributed to algorithmic injustice in previous techniques. However, the scale and complexity of training data required for multimodal models presents engineering challenges. Best practices for conducting annotation for large multimodal models in the most safe and ethical, yet efficient, manner have not been established. This paper presents a systematic literature review of crowd and machine learning augmented behavioral annotation methods to distill practices that may have value in multimodal implementations, cross-correlated across disciplines. Research questions were defined to provide an overview of the evolution of augmented behavioral annotation tools in the past, in relation to the present state of the art. (Contains five figures and four tables)

    Expectations and expertise in artificial intelligence: specialist views and historical perspectives on conceptualisation, promise, and funding

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    Artificial intelligence’s (AI) distinctiveness as a technoscientific field that imitates the ability to think went through a resurgence of interest post-2010, attracting a flood of scientific and popular expectations as to its utopian or dystopian transformative consequences. This thesis offers observations about the formation and dynamics of expectations based on documentary material from the previous periods of perceived AI hype (1960-1975 and 1980-1990, including in-between periods of perceived dormancy), and 25 interviews with UK-based AI specialists, directly involved with its development, who commented on the issues during the crucial period of uncertainty (2017-2019) and intense negotiation through which AI gained momentum prior to its regulation and relatively stabilised new rounds of long-term investment (2020-2021). This examination applies and contributes to longitudinal studies in the sociology of expectations (SoE) and studies of experience and expertise (SEE) frameworks, proposing a historical sociology of expertise and expectations framework. The research questions, focusing on the interplay between hype mobilisation and governance, are: (1) What is the relationship between AI practical development and the broader expectational environment, in terms of funding and conceptualisation of AI? (2) To what extent does informal and non-developer assessment of expectations influence formal articulations of foresight? (3) What can historical examinations of AI’s conceptual and promissory settings tell about the current rebranding of AI? The following contributions are made: (1) I extend SEE by paying greater attention to the interplay between technoscientific experts and wider collective arenas of discourse amongst non-specialists and showing how AI’s contemporary research cultures are overwhelmingly influenced by the hype environment but also contribute to it. This further highlights the interaction between competing rationales focusing on exploratory, curiosity-driven scientific research against exploitation-oriented strategies at formal and informal levels. (2) I suggest benefits of examining promissory environments in AI and related technoscientific fields longitudinally, treating contemporary expectations as historical products of sociotechnical trajectories through an authoritative historical reading of AI’s shifting conceptualisation and attached expectations as a response to availability of funding and broader national imaginaries. This comes with the benefit of better perceiving technological hype as migrating from social group to social group instead of fading through reductionist cycles of disillusionment; either by rebranding of technical operations, or by the investigation of a given field by non-technical practitioners. It also sensitises to critically examine broader social expectations as factors for shifts in perception about theoretical/basic science research transforming into applied technological fields. Finally, (3) I offer a model for understanding the significance of interplay between conceptualisations, promising, and motivations across groups within competing dynamics of collective and individual expectations and diverse sources of expertise

    Elements of Ion Linear Accelerators, Calm in The Resonances, Other_Tales

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    The main part of this book, Elements of Linear Accelerators, outlines in Part 1 a framework for non-relativistic linear accelerator focusing and accelerating channel design, simulation, optimization and analysis where space charge is an important factor. Part 1 is the most important part of the book; grasping the framework is essential to fully understand and appreciate the elements within it, and the myriad application details of the following Parts. The treatment concentrates on all linacs, large or small, intended for high-intensity, very low beam loss, factory-type application. The Radio-Frequency-Quadrupole (RFQ) is especially developed as a representative and the most complicated linac form (from dc to bunched and accelerated beam), extending to practical design of long, high energy linacs, including space charge resonances and beam halo formation, and some challenges for future work. Also a practical method is presented for designing Alternating-Phase- Focused (APF) linacs with long sequences and high energy gain. Full open-source software is available. The following part, Calm in the Resonances and Other Tales, contains eyewitness accounts of nearly 60 years of participation in accelerator technology. (September 2023) The LINACS codes are released at no cost and, as always,with fully open-source coding. (p.2 & Ch 19.10)Comment: 652 pages. Some hundreds of figures - all images, there is no data in the figures. (September 2023) The LINACS codes are released at no cost and, as always,with fully open-source coding. (p.2 & Ch 19.10
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