Semantics of fuzzy quantifiers

The aim of this thesis is to discuss the semantics of FQs (fuzzy quantifiers), formal semantics in particular. The approach used is fuzzy semantic based on fuzzy set theory (Zadeh 1965, 1975), i.e. we explore primarily the denotational meaning of FQs represented by membership functions. Some empirical data from both Chinese and English is used for illustration. A distinguishing characteristic of the semantics of FQs like about 200 students and many students as opposed to other sorts of quantifiers like every student and no students, is that they have fuzzy meaning boundaries. There is considerable evidence to suggest that the doctrine that a proposition is either true or false has a limited application in natural languages, which raises a serious question towards any linguistic theories that are based on a binary assumption. In other words, the number of elements in a domain that must satisfy a predicate is not precisety given by an FQ and so a proposition con¬ taining one may be more or less true depending on how closely numbers of elements approximate to a given norm. The most significant conclusion drawn here is that FQs are compositional in that FQs of the same type function in the same way to generate a constant semantic pattern. It is argued that although basic membership functions are subject to modification depending on context, they vary only with certain limits (i.e. FQs are motivated—neither completely predicated nor completely arbitrary), which does not deny compositionality in any way. A distinctive combination of compositionality and motivation of FQs makes my formal semantic framework of FQs unique in the way that although some specific values, such as a norm, have to be determined pragmatically, semantic and inferential patterns are systematic and predictable. A number of interdisciplinary implications, such as semantic, general linguistic, logic and psychological, are discussed. The study here seems to be a somewhat troublesome but potentially important area for developing theories (and machines) capable of dealing with, and accounting for, natural languages

The elastic use of 'some': a comparative study between l1 and l2 speakers in educational settings

This study explored some using a refreshing approach: focusing on its elasticity. It was a comparative study of L1 (American) and L2 (Chinese and Vietnamese) speakers and found that L2 speakers are vaguer than L1 speakers, and that the elasticity of some is manifested through the fluid, stretchable and strategic features of some’s pragmatic meanings and functions. The implication is that an understanding of its elastic nature may be integrated into the curriculum of English language teaching

How sketches work: a cognitive theory for improved system design

Evidence is presented that in the early stages of design or composition the mental processes used by artists for visual invention require a different type of support from those used for visualising a nearly complete object. Most research into machine visualisation has as its goal the production of realistic images which simulate the light pattern presented to the retina by real objects. In contrast sketch attributes preserve the results of cognitive processing which can be used interactively to amplify visual thought. The traditional attributes of sketches include many types of indeterminacy which may reflect the artist's need to be "vague". Drawing on contemporary theories of visual cognition and neuroscience this study discusses in detail the evidence for the following functions which are better served by rough sketches than by the very realistic imagery favoured in machine visualising systems. 1. Sketches are intermediate representational types which facilitate the mental translation between descriptive and depictive modes of representing visual thought. 2. Sketch attributes exploit automatic processes of perceptual retrieval and object recognition to improve the availability of tacit knowledge for visual invention. 3. Sketches are percept-image hybrids. The incomplete physical attributes of sketches elicit and stabilise a stream of super-imposed mental images which amplify inventive thought. 4. By segregating and isolating meaningful components of visual experience, sketches may assist the user to attend selectively to a limited part of a visual task, freeing otherwise over-loaded cognitive resources for visual thought. 5. Sequences of sketches and sketching acts support the short term episodic memory for cognitive actions. This assists creativity, providing voluntary control over highly practised mental processes which can otherwise become stereotyped. An attempt is made to unite the five hypothetical functions. Drawing on the Baddeley and Hitch model of working memory, it is speculated that the five functions may be related to a limited capacity monitoring mechanism which makes tacit visual knowledge explicitly available for conscious control and manipulation. It is suggested that the resources available to the human brain for imagining nonexistent objects are a cultural adaptation of visual mechanisms which evolved in early hominids for responding to confusing or incomplete stimuli from immediately present objects and events. Sketches are cultural inventions which artificially mimic aspects of such stimuli in order to capture these shared resources for the different purpose of imagining objects which do not yet exist. Finally the implications of the theory for the design of improved machine systems is discussed. The untidy attributes of traditional sketches are revealed to include cultural inventions which serve subtle cognitive functions. However traditional media have many short-comings which it should be possible to correct with new technology. Existing machine systems for sketching tend to imitate nonselectively the media bound properties of sketches without regard to the functions they serve. This may prove to be a mistake. It is concluded that new system designs are needed in which meaningfully structured data and specialised imagery amplify without interference or replacement the impressive but limited creative resources of the visual brain

Toward a New Theory of Notice and Deterrence

This article sets forth a new model of “notice” and deterrence that helps explain some long-standing contradictions in the literature on deterrence. Nearly all the work in the area of criminal law and deterrence has included an assumption that would-be offenders know the laws and the threatened sanctions, and therefore adjust their behavior in light of these disincentives. The fact that most people seem to be ignorant of the exact boundaries of the rules, and ignorant of the sanctions, presents an enormous conceptual problem for the classic model of deterrence. This new model presents an alternative mechanism for deterrence based on the distinction between risk and uncertainty that is frequently discussed in economic literature: in a nutshell, people “play it safe” or steer clear of violating the law more when there is some uncertainty about the parameters of the law and the sanctions. Economic understandings of aversion to uncertainty help explain why deterrence works as well as it does in an environment where comprehensive legal knowledge is generally impossible. In addition, this article demonstrates that public ignorance of the law or uncertainty is an unavoidable function of the verbal formulations used in modern statutes. The “notice requirement” does not ensure public awareness of the law (which the courts have never required in any actual sense), but rather sets limits on the range of prohibitions and sanctions confronting the citizenry, striking an optimal balance between under-deterrence and over-deterrence

Taking Ex nihilo seriously : ontology and providence in creation

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Play Among Books

How does coding change the way we think about architecture? Miro Roman and his AI Alice_ch3n81 develop a playful scenario in which they propose coding as the new literacy of information. They convey knowledge in the form of a project model that links the fields of architecture and information through two interwoven narrative strands in an “infinite flow” of real books

Strategic enactment : an interpretive approach to organisational strategy.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.The purpose of this thesis is to explore the field of strategy by way of its historical trajectory and to consider the major branches that constitute this broad, but fragmented discipline. It is an interdisciplinary endeavour that draws specifically on systems theories and complexity theory as a way to enrich the field. The strategy field tends to be philosophically unreflexive. As a result it is dominated by an objectivist ontology, which underpins strategic choice. One of the aims of this thesis is to explore the implications for strategy, if instead, an interpretive stance, based on an ontology of social constructionism, is adopted. The literature has not fully explored and developed different ontologies in the context of strategy and hence has left a major gap in theorising about strategy. This thesis attempts to address that gap and therefore one of the contributions of the study will be a tentative theory of strategic enactment. This research attempts to answer the following key questions: 1. What are the major theoretical frameworks and conceptual models that frame the field of strategy? 2. How well do these frameworks and models contribute to strategy under conditions of high ambiguity and uncertainty? 3. What contributions may be made by applying complexity theory to the field of strategy? 4. What are the implications of adopting an interpretive approach to strategy? 5. What are the implications of strategic enactment on strategic leadership? Given that these research questions are of a philosophical and theoretical nature, the research methodology and approach is one based on theoretical exploration. It is therefore not an empirical study, but a conceptual one embracing both breadth and depth. It is broad in that it covers multiple literature sets which include bodies of knowledge in organisational theory, leadership, strategy, systems thinking and complexity theory. It is deep in its interrogation of core conceptual constructs that are pertinent to the strategy frame of reference and in its comprehensive coverage of the major topics that circumscribe the field. While it relies on an extensive coverage of existing texts it is not a hermeneutic study from a methodological point of view. It does not purport to interpret and to elicit the meaning of texts. The term interpretive in the title instead refers to the ontological notion of sensemaking and interpretation that is central to strategic enactment. Interpretive in this sense is not an interpretation of texts in a hermeneutic fashion, but interpretive in relation to enacting reality. Despite being a theoretical study it still draws on deductive, inductive and abductive reasoning. The study makes several contributions. It re-conceptualises strategy in a way that lends itself to be generalisable across all sectors, approaches strategy formulation and implementation as a single intertwined process, interrogates, combines and integrates strategy-related and other concepts in way that has not been done before, provides a theoretical basis for scenario planning and demonstrates how it may considered as a soft systems approach, presents a practical methodology for undertaking scenario planning, critiques existing CAS-based theorising about strategy, leadership and organisation and draws out the potential of complexity theory for strategy and leadership. The final contribution of this study is a tentative theory of strategic enactment that highlights key constructs such as identity and agency that have been underemphasised in the strategy literature. Such a theory offers alternative explanations from that of strategic choice, and is able to deal with the phenomenon of emergence in organisational settings. It is unique in that it integrates complex adaptive systems with an interpretive approach to organisational strategy. The following may be identified as key findings of this study: • Strategy is still a pre-paradigmatic field and hence its theoretical underpinnings are of necessity eclectic. • While strategic choice is the dominant approach, many of its tenets are contested, especially when organisations are considered as complex adaptive systems. • Deliberate strategy is not possible as all forms of strategy are ultimately emergent. • Agency is an important construct in strategy. Agency does not reside in the key power brokers alone, but extends to all organisational actors and their structural networks of relations. Agency is also invested in non-human actors in the form of artifacts. • Agency is limited to micro-level actions and does not embrace macros states of the system. • Identity is an important construct in strategy. The identity of agents is shaped in their interactions with other agents. Who they are impact on what they can and cannot do, and also impact who they construct themselves to be. In this sense there is a strong link between agency and identity. • Identity is also shaped in situated activity in practice and therefore strategy-as-practice is important. • Strategic enactment presents alternate explanations for the utility of strategy tools and strategic plans from strategic choice.Please refer to the main copy of the thesis for abstract