Philosophy at Cambridge, Newsletter of the Faculty of Philosophy

Philosophy Newsletter. Articles by: Edward Craig - From the Chairman. Onora O'Neill - "It's the newspapers I can't stand. Serena Olsaretti - The 2004 Annual Royal Institute of Philosophy Conference. Mary Leng - Mathematical Knowledge Conference. Postgraduate Conference. Jane Heal - Facts, Fables and Funds. Hugh Mellor - Uses and Abuses of Probability. Amanda Boyle - Nobody Knows Anything: Philosophy, Film and Me. Jaime Whyte - Seven Years at Cambridge Alex Oliver and Dominic Scott - The Forum for Philosophy in Business. Tim Button - Justify Yourself. Faculty News

Review of \u3cem\u3eShelley’s Goddess: Maternity, Language and Subjectivity\u3c/em\u3e by Barbara Charlesworth Gelpi

When the hero of Ferdinand von Loeben\u27s 1 808 novel Guido sees a sample of handwriting in Sanskrit he remarks, languages have always seemed to me to be lost holy children who cover the whole world in search of their mother (p. 62). Guido\u27s observation could stand as a paraphrase of Percy Shelley\u27s lifelong interest in language, mediated as it was by his equally compelling obsessions with maternity and subjectivity. And we are fortunate to have these three concerns brought together by Barbara Gelpi\u27s Shelley\u27s Goddess

Stand By Me. Experiments on Help and Commitment in Coordination Games

Comunicación presentada en la CESifo Area Conference on Behavioural Economics, celebrada los días 25 y 26 de octubre de 2013 en Munich (Alemania)We present experiments studying how high ability individuals use help to foster efficient coordination. After an initial phase that traps groups in a low productivity equilibrium, incentives to coordinate are increased, making it possible to escape this performance trap. The design varies whether high ability individuals can offer help and, if so, whether they must commit to help for an extended period. If help is chosen on a round by round basis, the probability of escaping the performance trap is slightly reduced by allowing for help. The likelihood of success significantly improves if high ability individuals must commit to help for an extended time period. We develop and estimate a structural model of sophisticated learning that provides an explanation for why commitment is necessary. The key insight is that potential leaders who are overly optimistic about their ability to teach their followers are too fast to eliminate help in the absence of commitmentThe authors thank the NSF (SES-0214310), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Barcelona GSE Research Network for financial helpPeer Reviewe

Folktales of International Justice

When Laura Dickinson asked me to participate on this panel, she very nicely said that she hoped I could bring a different perspective to the discussion. I thought I knew what she meant. The other panelists share a profound knowledge of how international criminal-law institutions work. My different perspective would therefore be the perspective of abject ignorance. Taking comfort from the Socratic dictum that there is wisdom in knowing what you do not know, I accepted the invitation because it gives me the opportunity to pose questions rather than proposing answers. I will raise my questions by examining some stories - what the late Robert Cover called Folktales of Justice - about the nature of legal institutions, in order to tease out some understanding of their aims. It is, after all, folktales and myths (even more than arguments) that reflect the moral intuitions that stand at the base of all legal institutions

But, Father Wheeland, the Bible Lies!

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: For thou art with me…” We sit and recite these words that we know by heart, which seem to mean absolutely nothing to us right now. I look to my sister on my left; she looks back at me for reassurance. I give her a strong, stern look: We can do this. As the psalm, which does no justice in representing the reason we are here, is ending, my sister and I stand up in anticipation of Father Wheeland inviting us to the pulpit. He introduces us to all the people who already know us very well before stepping aside. My sister, although three years older, is just not strong enough to go first, so I step up

Stand by me—Experiments on help and commitment in coordination games

We present experiments studying how high-ability individuals use help to foster efficient coordination. After an initial phase that traps groups in a low-productivity equilibrium, incentives to coordinate are increased, making it possible to escape this performance trap. The design varies whether high-ability individuals can offer help and, if so, whether they must commit to help for an extended period. If help is chosen on a round-by-round basis, the probability of escaping the performance trap is slightly reduced by allowing for help. The likelihood of success significantly improves if high-ability individuals must commit to help for an extended time. We develop and estimate a structural model of sophisticated learning that provides an explanation for why commitment is necessary. The key insight is that potential leaders who are overly optimistic about their ability to teach their followers are too fast to eliminate help in the absence of commitment

POLITENESS PRINCIPLE ANALYSIS IN CARTOON MOVIE ENTITLED STAND BY ME DORAEMON

 This article examines the use of politeness principle in cartoon movie entitled “Stand By Me Doraemon”. It aims at giving a description on the use of politeness principle in this movie so that this is the source of data as well. The data are collected by note taking technique and then analyzed descriptively. After analyzing the data, the researcher finds the use of politeness principle in the movie script. They are utterances of the use of politeness principle covering the kinds of maxim in politeness principle. The utterances covey the use of tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim, and sympathy maxim. Then, it focused also in politeness scale such as formality scale, hesitancy scale, and equality scale. The finding result showed that there are 25 politeness principle found in cartoon movie “Stand By Me Doraemon”. 1 tact maxim, 3 generosity maxim, 6 approbation maxim, 1 modesty maxim, 2 agreement maxim, 3 sympathy maxim, 2 formality scale, 4 hesitancy scale, and 3 equality scale. Approbation maxim is the maxim of the most numerous in the movie. This is because the characters in this film seek to avoid conflict and create an environment that is comfortable in communication