The myth of occurrence-based semantics

The principle of compositionality requires that the meaning of a complex expression remains the same after substitution of synonymous expressions. Alleged counterexamples to compositionality seem to force a theoretical choice: either apparent synonyms are not synonyms or synonyms do not syntactically occur where they appear to occur. Some theorists have instead looked to Frege’s doctrine of “reference shift” according to which the meaning of an expression is sensitive to its linguistic context. This doctrine is alleged to retain the relevant claims about synonymy and substitution while respecting the compositionality principle. Thus, Salmon :415, 2006) and Glanzberg and King :1–29, 2020) offer occurrence-based accounts of variable binding, and Pagin and Westerståhl :381–415, 2010c) argue that an occurrence-based semantics delivers a compositional account of quotation. Our thesis is this: the occurrence-based strategies resolve the apparent failures of substitutivity in the same general way as the standard expression-based semantics do. So it is a myth that a Frege-inspired occurrence-based semantics affords a genuine alternative strategy

The Wall in the Mind - Revisited Stable Differences in the Political Cultures of Western and Eastern Germany

Do lasting differences in the political cultures of social subgroups call into question the legitimacy of democracy? This danger has been discussed for three decades now, always in the run up to German Unity Day, which marks the reunification of Germany in 1990. Is there still a 'wall in people's minds', as postulated in the late 1990s? This article examines the question comparatively and over time: Do political cultures and their main political attitudes still differ between Western and Eastern Germany 30 years after reunification? And, if so, to what extent? Using an extended concept of political support, we analyse East-West differences by drawing on different data material from representative surveys. What we show that there is no deficit of legitimacy in Eastern Germany in terms of democracy. Nevertheless, there are consistent East-West differences in terms of people's satisfaction with democracy as it is currently practised. These differences can be explained neither by existing socio-economic and socio-structural inequalities between Eastern and Western Germany, and nor by feelings of nostalgia for socialism. Rather, they are due to a combination of feelings of disadvantage, of a lack of recognition, and corresponding narratives that can draw on objective manifestations of inequality

Reviving the parameter revolution in semantics

Montague and Kaplan began a revolution in semantics, which promised to explain how a univocal expression could make distinct truth-conditional contributions in its various occurrences. The idea was to treat context as a parameter at which a sentence is semantically evaluated. But the revolution has stalled. One salient problem comes from recurring demonstratives: "He is tall and he is not tall". For the sentence to be true at a context, each occurrence of the demonstrative must make a different truth-conditional contribution. But this difference cannot be accounted for by standard parameter sensitivity. Semanticists, consoled by the thought that this ambiguity would ultimately be needed anyhow to explain anaphora, have been too content to posit massive ambiguities in demonstrative pronouns. This article aims to revived the parameter revolution by showing how to treat demonstrative pronouns as univocal while providing an account of anaphora that doesn't end up re-introducing the ambiguity

Parent Perceptions of Preadolescent Giftedness and Self Concept

Parent perceptions of preadolescent giftedness with regard to the social-emotional development and self-concept of their children were investigated for this study. This study utilized a qualitative approach through information provided by the parents of 21 preadolescent children, with IQ‘s of 110 and above, who participate in a suburban school districts gifted and talented / enrichment program. Interviews were conducted with each parent and included 7 open-ended questions that were intended to elicit personal views regarding their child‘s social-emotional development and self-concept. Information from these interviews, incorporated with the background and demographic questionnaire were examined for potential themes and patterns with the intent to interpret these data and draw conclusions about their meaning, relevant to giftedness. Common themes expressed by the respondents were humor, noticeable sensitivity, a positive evolution of social-emotional development, positive discipline practices, extra-curricular experiences, and progressive social relationships

Standing Pat in a Post-\u3cem\u3eKelo\u3c/em\u3e World: Preservation of Broad Eminent Domain Power in \u3cem\u3eKaur v. New York State Development Corp.\u3c/em\u3e

On June 24, 2010, the New York Court of Appeals in Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp. upheld a state taking of private property to expand Columbia University’s campus into the Manhattanville neighborhood of New York City. In doing so, the court reaffirmed precedent holding that the determinations of state agencies vested with the condemnation power are entitled to substantial judicial deference. This deferential posture assumed by the Court of Appeals helps preserve a broad power of eminent domain in New York

TIROS-N Cosmic Ray study

An experimental and analytical study was performed on the impact of galactic cosmic rays on the TIROS-N satellite memory in orbit. Comparisons were made of systems equipped with the Harris HMI-6508 1 x 1024 CMOS/bulk RAM and the RCA CDP-1821 1 x 1024 bit CMOS/SOS RAM. Based upon the experimental results, estimated bit error rates were determined. These were at least 8.0 bit errors/day for a 300 kilobit memory with the HMI-6508 and .014 bit errors/day with the CDF-1821. It was also estimated that the HMI-6508 latchup rate in orbit is at least two orders of magnitude less than the bit error rates; the CDP-1821 will not latchup

Naming, Saying, and Structure

It is commonplace for philosophers to distinguish mere truths from truths that perspicuously represent the world's structure. According to a popular view, the perspicuous truths are supposed to be metaphysically revelatory and to play an important role in the accounts of law-hood, confirmation, and linguistic interpretation. Yet, there is no consensus about how to characterize this distinction. I examine strategies developed by Lewis and by Sider in his Writing the Book of the World which purport to explain this distinction in terms of vocabulary: the truths that represent the world perspicuously have better, joint-carving vocabulary. I argue that the distinction between a perspicuous and mere truth concerns both the vocabulary of the sentence and its grammar. I then show that the collective motivations for distinguishing perspicuous from mere truths do not allow Lewis and Sider to properly impose constraints on gramma

BUILDING A BETTER TRAINING IMAGE WITH DIGITAL OUTCROP MODELS: THESE GO TO ELEVEN

Current standard geostatistical approaches to subsurface heterogeneity studies may not capture realistic facies geometries and fluid flow paths. Multiple-point statistics (MPS) has shown promise in portraying complex geometries realistically; however, realizations are limited by the reliability of the model of heterogeneity upon which MPS relies, that is the Training Image (TI). Attempting to increase realism captured in TIs, a quantitative outcrop analog-based approach utilizing terrestrial lidar and high-resolution, calibrated digital photography is combined with lithofacies analysis to produce TIs. Terrestrial lidar scans and high-resolution digital imagery were acquired of a Westwater Canyon Member, Morrison Formation outcrop in Ojito Wilderness, New Mexico, USA. The resulting point cloud was used to develop a cm scale mesh. Digital images of the outcrop were processed through a series of photogrammetric techniques to delineate different facies and sedimentary structures. The classified images were projected onto the high-resolution mesh creating a physically plausible Digital Outcrop Model (DOM), portions of which were used to build MPS TIs. The resulting MPS realization appears to capture realistic geometries of the deposit and empirically honors facies distributions