3,591,034 research outputs found
Transitivity, Moral Latitude, and Supererogation
On what I take to be the standard account of supererogation, an act is supererogatory if and only if it is morally optional and there is more moral reason to perform it than to perform some permissible alternative. And, on this account, an agent has more moral reason to perform one act than to perform another if and only if she morally ought to prefer how things would be if she were to perform the one to how things would be if she were to perform the other. I argue that this account has two serious problems. The first, which I call the latitude problem, is that it has counterintuitive implications in cases where the duty to be exceeded is one that allows for significant latitude in how to comply with it. The second, which I call the transitivity problem, is that it runs afoul of the plausible idea that the one-reason-morally-justifies-acting-against-another relation is transitive. Whatâs more, I argue that both problems can be overcome by an alternative account, which I call the maximalist account
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A connection-level call admission control using genetic algorithm for MultiClass multimedia services in wireless networks
Call admission control in a wireless cell in a personal communication system (PCS) can be modeled as an M/M/C/C queuing system with m classes of users. Semi-Markov Decision Process (SMDP) can be used to optimize channel utilization with upper bounds on handoff blocking probabilities as Quality of Service constraints. However, this method is too time-consuming and therefore it fails when state space and action space are large. In this paper, we apply a genetic algorithm approach to address the situation when the SMDP approach fails. We code call admission control decisions as binary strings, where a value of â1â in the position i (i=1,âŠm) of a decision string stands for the decision of accepting a call in class-i; a value of â0â in the position i of the decision string stands for the decision of rejecting a call in class-i. The coded binary strings are feed into the genetic algorithm, and the resulting binary strings are founded to be near optimal call admission control decisions. Simulation results from the genetic algorithm are compared with the optimal solutions obtained from linear programming for the SMDP approach. The results reveal that the genetic algorithm approximates the optimal approach very well with less complexity
On the Expected Utility Objection to the Dutch Book Argument for Probabilism
The Dutch Book Argument for Probabilism assumes Ramsey's Thesis (RT), which purports to determine the prices an agent is rationally required to pay for a bet. Recently, a new objection to Ramsey's Thesis has emerged (Hedden 2013, Wronski & Godziszewski 2017, Wronski 2018)--I call this the Expected Utility Objection. According to this objection, it is Maximise Subjective Expected Utility (MSEU) that determines the prices an agent is required to pay for a bet, and this often disagrees with Ramsey's Thesis. I suggest two responses to Hedden's objection. First, we might be permissive: agents are permitted to pay any price that is required or permitted by RT, and they are permitted to pay any price that is required or permitted by MSEU. This allows us to give a revised version of the Dutch Book Argument for Probabilism, which I call the Permissive Dutch Book Argument. Second, I suggest that even the proponent of the Expected Utility Objection should admit that RT gives the correct answer in certain very limited cases, and I show that, together with MSEU, this very restricted version of RT gives a new pragmatic argument for Probabilism, which I call the Bookless Pragmatic Argument
Transformative experience and the knowledge norms for action: Moss on Paulâs challenge to decision theory
to appear in Lambert, E. and J. Schwenkler (eds.) Transformative Experience (OUP)
L. A. Paul (2014, 2015) argues that the possibility of epistemically transformative experiences poses serious and novel problems for the orthodox theory of rational choice, namely, expected utility theory â I call her argument the Utility Ignorance Objection. In a pair of earlier papers, I responded to Paulâs challenge (Pettigrew 2015, 2016), and a number of other philosophers have responded in similar ways (Dougherty, et al. 2015, Harman 2015) â I call our argument the Fine-Graining Response. Paul has her own reply to this response, which we might call the Authenticity Reply. But Sarah Moss has recently offered an alternative reply to the Fine-Graining Response on Paulâs behalf (Moss 2017) â weâll call it the No Knowledge Reply. This appeals to the knowledge norm of action, together with Mossâ novel and intriguing account of probabilistic knowledge. In this paper, I consider Mossâ reply and argue that it fails. I argue first that it fails as a reply made on Paulâs behalf, since it forces us to abandon many of the features of Paulâs challenge that make it distinctive and with which Paul herself is particularly concerned. Then I argue that it fails as a reply independent of its fidelity to Paulâs intentions
Using design thinking to help practitioners and front desk staff schedule follow up appointments
Due to an increase of calls at the front desk, Western Connecticut Health Network has systemized scheduling through call centers. In Newtown Family Medicine, clinical staff become responsible for helping patients navigate between two call centers in order to schedule appointments or schedule imaging. I used design thinking to create stickers that saved practitioners time explaining the process and decrease patient confusion.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1576/thumbnail.jp
Letter Written by Katherine Trickey to Her Folks Dated April 12, 1944
[Transcription begins]
Tues. Morning
7.15 AM
Apr. 12 [1944]
Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia
Camp Wheeler,
Dear Mother,
I guess my telephone call is not going to get through after all. I donât seem to have much luck with them do I. Iâm sorry. I had a class last night at 7. oâclock so couldnât start trying until 9. Then the operator said it would be 5 or 6 hours before the call would go through. There was a big crowd at the telephone building. Everyone decided that after Easter would be a quiet time to telephone I guess. I went back to the barracks & I put in a call for this morning but it hasnât come in and its most time to go to work. I hope you didnât have too bad an evening sitting up for the call. I really didnât think it would be so busy or I never would have got your hopes up like that. Anyway here is my belated Birthday Greetings, dear.
Yesterday was a big day for the WACs. There was an airplane recognition flight scheduled and the whole camp was assembled in a field about three miles from our barracks. A few of us had to work but the rest marched in formation with the boys way over to the field only to find that the flight had had to be called off because of the clouds. So they marched back the three miles and after dinner had to fall out again and march back to the field as the weather had cleared. I went in the afternoon and enjoyed it very much although it was quite a march and it was very sunny and hot. I only had 6 miles of marching while the others had 12. They were tired last night Iâm telling you. We all have beautiful sunburned faces this morning. But it was swell just the same.
Must close now and go to work.
Love, dear.
P.S. got your letter inclosing(sic) Texâs yesterday. Will return them.
[Transcription ends
Statistical and Economic Evaluation of Time Series Models for Forecasting Arrivals at Call Centers
Call centers' managers are interested in obtaining accurate point and
distributional forecasts of call arrivals in order to achieve an optimal
balance between service quality and operating costs. We present a strategy for
selecting forecast models of call arrivals which is based on three pillars: (i)
flexibility of the loss function; (ii) statistical evaluation of forecast
accuracy; (iii) economic evaluation of forecast performance using money
metrics. We implement fourteen time series models and seven forecast
combination schemes on three series of daily call arrivals. Although we focus
mainly on point forecasts, we also analyze density forecast evaluation. We show
that second moments modeling is important both for point and density
forecasting and that the simple Seasonal Random Walk model is always
outperformed by more general specifications. Our results suggest that call
center managers should invest in the use of forecast models which describe both
first and second moments of call arrivals
Priority, Not Equality, for Possible People
How should we choose between uncertain prospects in which different possible people
might exist at different levels of wellbeing? Alex Voorhoeve and Marc Fleurbaey offer
an egalitarian answer to this question. I give some reasons to reject their answer and
then sketch an alternative, which I call person-affecting prioritarianism
Writing about empire: remarks on the logic of a discourse
A new genre of scholarly writing has emerged in recent years in the field of what one can broadly call critical international theory. Its principal defining feature is an intense preoccupation with the phenomenon of the so-called ânew world orderâ, which it tries to explain and describe through an analytical lens constructed primarily around two ideas: the idea of âempireâ and the idea of âimperial lawâ. In this article I attempt to provide a brief overview of this genre, which for the sake of simplicity I shall call henceforth the ânew imperial lawâ or NIL genre, and to reflect critically on its underlying ideological dynamics
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