A critical analysis of valuation methods used by property professionals in a South African context

A Research Report Subnu ned to the Department of'Building &QUifll.ltiey Surveying ~Faculty of Architecture ) University of the Witwatersrand, November 199

The dynamics of syntax acquisition: facilitation between syntactic structures

This paper sets out to show how facilitation between different clause structures operates over time in syntax acquisition. The phenomenon of facilitation within given structures has been widely documented, yet inter-structure facilitation has rarely been reported so far. Our findings are based on the naturalistic production corpora of six toddlers learning Hebrew as their first language. We use regression analysis, a method that has not been used to study this phenomenon. We find that the proportion of errors among the earliest produced clauses in a structure is related to the degree of acceleration of that structure's learning curve; that with the accretion of structures the proportion of errors among the first clauses of new structures declines, as does the acceleration of their learning curves. We interpret our findings as showing that learning new syntactic structures is made easier, or facilitated, by previously acquired ones

Building Blocks For Sustainable Enterprises

This research paper can be segmented into three parts. The first segment aims to understand the concept of sustainability by looking at the evolution of the definition over time, as well as relevant scientifically founded frameworks that explain the root causes that have generated our current unsustainable state of society. e second segment looks at stories of enterprises that have managed to successfully integrate sustainability into their business model to develop sustainable on-going operations that have bene ted all stakeholders involved equitably. The third segment is an initial assessment of the Peruvian alpaca wool sector to demonstrate some of the challenges entrepreneurs face to develop a sustainable enterprise, as well as probe applicability of the tools we developed from our work in the previous two segments. Findings from the first and second segments of this paper served as fundamental basis for the development of our output: The Bottom-up pyramid model, and the Sustainability guiding principles. The Bottom-up pyramid model visually represents our understanding of the required components to develop a sustainable enterprise from the ground up. The main takeaway of this representation is that a sustainable enterprise should be founded on knowledge from the incumbent community home to a natural resource, and that business development and growth should be bottom-up, taking into account community concerns and points of view. e Sustainability guiding principles are a list of guidelines entrepre- neurs can use to get a better understanding of some of the challenges they may face when attempting to develop a sustainable enterprise in a rural community. Ultimately, these instruments are aimed at providing guidance to leaders and entrepreneurs who want to establish business models with sustainable operations that do not compromise the long- term welfare of a natural resource and the community reliant on it. e last segment of this paper aims to probe the tools we developed to iterate their practicality and relevance with a contemporary real-world situation. We chose the alpaca wool sector in Peru because it is representative of the types of hurdles leaders could face when attempting to initiate a sustainable enterprise. Additionally, one of the team’s researchers had access to stakeholders in this sector, which provided primary research to complement and corroborate our literary review. is assessment is an initial step that needs further validation with more pragmatic information and on-site data for a more detailed analysis of the issues hindering specific communities in the Andes

Merleau-Ponty and Nagarjuna: Relational Social Ontology and the Ground of Ethics

Through a comparative analysis of the key ontological notions in Merleau-Ponty and Nagarjuna, I develop a relational social ontology that is grounded in their respective implicit and explicit ethics. Both thinkers take heed of our being-in-the-world; this is evident in their views on intersubjective sociality and language. Recognizing the limitations in these views points us toward a greater understanding of the meaningfulness of our situated existences. In this vein, I propose a number of ideas to guide the work of comparative philosophy. Existence in Merleau-Ponty and Nagarjuna The analyses of embodiment and the intrinsic meaningfulness of existence by Merleau-Ponty and Nagarjuna share strong similarities. These analyses, however, are limited by their own means, that is, language. Merleau-Ponty and Nagarjuna address the problematics caused by linguistic behavior from within the context of an intersubjective relational social ontology. In a more positive sense, they also recognize that within intersubjectivity there manifests intrinsic moral and ethical actions that (implicitly) structure our societies Both philosophers concern themselves with the nature of existence. They emphasize the importance of experience and perception which are in and of the world. In other words, Merleau-Ponty and Nagarjuna rely on an existential analysis of our lives as situated beings in the phenomenal world. As situated entities we are open to experiencing the world in which we live and which in turn inhabits us. Their respective notions of reversibility and relational origination (pratitya-samutpada) describe the immediate mutual relations between us as situated beings and the experiential world. Reversibility and relational origination indicate a kind of ontological paralleling. This paralleling is based upon their respect ontologies (indirect and negative)

Water. The Geopolitics of Water

In the great geo-strategic game known as the Middle East, peace politics get much of the press and the attention of policy leaders. On occasion, oil takes center stage but often for the wrong reason (see, e.g., The End of the Oil Era and the Price of Oil ). What is important to understand is that water is in fact the key strategic resource in the region and if you follow the flow of water, you\u27ll follow the politics and policy machinations that lie at the heart of the Israeli-Syrian dialogue. IASPS Fellow in Strategy Paul Michael Wihbey co-authored an analysis of the water question that appeared in the Washington Times, Wednesday, March 29, 200

Wittgenstein's Ways

Aristotle first investigated different modes, or ways of being. Unfortunately, in the modern literature the discussion of this concept has been largely neglected. Only recently, the interest towards the concept of ways increased. Usually, it is explored in connection with the existence of universals and particulars. The approach we are going to follow in this chapter is different. It discusses Wittgenstein’s conception of higher ontological levels as ways of arranging elements of lower ontological levels. In the Tractatus, Wittgenstein developed his ontology of ways (Art und Weise) in six steps: (i) Constructing states of affairs out of objects; (ii) Constructing propositions out of states of affairs; (iii) Constructing propositional signs; (iv) Constructing thoughts with the help of propositional signs; (v) Constructing truth / falsity; (vi) Constructing works of art. In Philosophical Investigations he added further five ways of producing new ontological levels: (vii) the meaning of a proposition is the way in which it is verified; (viii) the child gets command on language/calculus in the way it replicates demonstrations of the teacher; (ix) the products of mind are ways of doing something; (x) an action is a way of carrying out the instructions for acting