On Wittgenstein"s "One of the Most Fundamental\ud Language Games�

My interest in this topic springs from the controversy that\ud Wittgenstein"s language games have sparked in gametheoretic\ud approaches to logic. Hintikka (1996) has argued\ud that semantic games and language games share a mutual\ud concern on how language and the world are related. Such\ud links are codified in the practices of language games, and\ud are operationalised in semantic games by the mathematical\ud theory of games

Some Logical Notations for Pragmatic Assertions

The pragmatic notion of assertion has an important inferential role in logic. There are also many notational forms to express assertions in logical systems. This paper reviews, compares and analyses languages with signs for assertions, including explicit signs such as Frege’s and Dalla Pozza’s logical systems and implicit signs with no specific sign for assertion, such as Peirce’s algebraic and graphical logics and the recent modification of the latter termed Assertive Graphs. We identify and discuss the main ‘points’ of these notations on the logical representation of assertions, and evaluate their systems from the perspective of the philosophy of logical notations. Pragmatic assertions turn out to be useful in providing intended interpretations of a variety of logical systems

Simultaneous use of complementary and alternative medicine with conventional medicine : Reasons for CAM usage and attitudes of health care providers

The aim of the study was to find out why people are using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) simultaneously with conventional medicine and why users of CAM do not inform health care professionals about their use of CAM. Another aim of the study was to find out health care professionals attitudes regarding the use of CAM. The purpose of the study is to provide information that could be used to develop the health care services and education of health care providers about CAM. Participants of the study were customers of the two CAM therapist and inclusion criteria were simultaneous use or that they had used CAM and conventional medicine simultaneously in the past. The research was carried out using qualitative research method. Self-administered questionnaires with open-ended questions were used to collect the data. Thematic content analysis and inductive reasoning was used to analyse the data. Study revealed that the main reason why people who are using complementary and alternative medicine along with conventional medicine was anticipated or already experienced benefits of the complementary and alternative medicine. Already experienced or anticipated disapproval towards CAM is the main reason that prevented patients from informing about their use of CAM. Negative feedback was the most common reaction when participants told that they are using CAM to the health care professionals

Resistin oblivion : remembering the Chilean women's movement of Pinochet's time

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.My thesis is on the topic of the contemporary remembering of, as well as the interest in, the Chilean women's movement during Pinochet's dictatorship. During the dictatorship the organized women represented a considerable opposition force to the military regime, and were amongst the first social organizations that dared to publically defy it. However, since the transition to a post-dictatorial society the gender-based movement has lost its former visibility and centrality in Chilean politics. The approach of the thesis is twofold. First, it explores the official history politics of the Chilean state to grasp how civil society's influence in the past is portrayed, or whether it is at all. Second, the views of women themselves involved in the past women's movement, as well as the discourse they use in public events, are placed under scrutiny to analyze their interest in conveying their own past as well as their possibilities to do this. Historical memory here is understood according to the theory embraced by Isabel Shafir Piper: memory being created in the present can be construed in endless different ways and no memory is more correct than another. A shared historical memory of the past based only on concepts of repression and tragedy, and without agency, however, have far-reaching consequences for a post-dictatorial civil society. The aspects of the experience of the female societal subjects and the Chilean political history of women are at the core of the thesis. The most important sources are in-depth semi-structured interviews with central Chilean female figures who participated in the women's movement during the dictatorship or who have been central in women's organizations and politics since. Also the Truth Commission reports are used as material for examining the Chilean state's memory politics since the dictatorship. The results of the thesis are that state's interest in portraying women as societal subjects crucial in the past shines with its absence. Neither are later generations interested in the matter of civil society during the dictatorship, nor in the past in general. In consequence, the women who were active in the past are the ones who most convey their own past experiences, and they face considerable challenges reaching a receptive audience for their words, although a clear interest in keeping the past present is detectable. According to the theory of Gabriel Salazar, the official memory and memory originating from the social organizations are in juxtaposition to each other and hence civil society memory acquires the characteristic of resistance to the official oblivion. The analysis of the thesis arrives at that memory can be comprehended as a right and not only a curiosity. In post-dictatorial societies, such as contemporary Chile, one must strive for remembering beyond only human rights violations. In conclusion, change in memory politics and memory activities in the future is possible, as social movement remembering is related to the ever-evolving societal context in which it occurs as well as other aspects of social movement dynamics

Affect in collaborative and virtual inquiry learning: Insights into small student groups and teachers in the classroom

Research on affect in collaborative learning has previously focused on individual perceptions of affect or collective emotional atmosphere with respect to the learning situation or the environment. This dissertation aims to widen the perspective by capturing individual affect both within and between small groups, taking into account individual differences. The aim is also to investigate the role of the teacher in computer-supported collaborative learning and the importance of teacher affect. Participants were 120 students in six high schools and four teachers and their 19 small groups (56 students). A mixed-method approach was used, consisting of statistical analyses for survey data, systematic video observations, case studies and social network analysis.This dissertation is comprised of three empirical studies. In Study I, the aim was to extend understanding of affect in computer‐supported collaborative science learning by examining discrete affective states in a face‐to‐face small group setting in high schools. The results showed the significance of positive affect, especially self-assurance, in collaborative learning, but also the impact of individual differences within the group. In Study II, the aim was to examine affect within and between distinct outcome groups, and the consistency between selfreported and observed affect in the groups. The findings showed convergence in affect with the performance in the extreme groups, but more complex affect patterns in the average groups. In Study III, the aim was to investigate the role of the teacher in supporting and guiding collaborative inquiry. The results demonstrated four different time management, guidance and support practices in identical situations and environments, but similarities as well. The results also indicated that the teachers were most eager to guide the groups they perceived as active collaborators. Tunteet yhteistoiminnallisessa ja virtuaalisessa tutkivassa oppimisessa: Näkemyksiä opiskelijoiden pienryhmistä sekä opettajista luokkahuoneessa Yhteisölliseen oppimiseen liittyvä tunnetutkimus on aiemmin keskittynyt tarkastelemaan yksilöiden kokemia tunteita tai kollektiivista tunneilmapiiriä suhteessa oppimistilanteeseen ja –ympäristöön. Tässä väitöskirjassa tunteita tutkitaan laajemmin kartoittaen niin yksilöiden kokemia tunteita pienryhmätasolla kuin myös yksilöiden välisiä eroja ryhmien sisällä. Tarkastelun kohteena on myös opettajan merkitys tietokoneavusteisen yhteisöllisen oppimisen tukemisessa ja ohjauksessa, sekä opettajan tunnekokemukset. Tutkimukseen osallistui 120 opiskelijaa kuudesta lukiosta sekä neljä opettajaa ja heidän 19 pienryhmäänsä (56 opiskelijaa). Monimenetelmällinen kyselylomakkeista sekä videoista koostuva aineisto analysoitiin tilastollisesti, systemaattisella videohavainnoinnilla, tapaustutkimuksella sekä verkostoanalyysilla. Tämä väitöskirja koostuu kolmesta osatutkimuksesta. Tutkimuksessa I tavoitteena oli laajentaa ymmärrystä tunteista osana tietokoneavusteista yhteisöllistä luonnontieteiden oppimista tarkastelemalla yksittäisiä tunnetiloja kasvokkaisessa pienryhmäoppimistilanteessa lukioikäisillä. Tulokset osoittivat sekä positiivisten tunteiden että ryhmän yksilöiden välisten erojen merkittävyyden, ja korostivat itsevarmuutta yhteistoiminnallisen ja tutkivan pienryhmäoppimisen edistämisessä. Tutkimuksessa II tarkasteltiin tunteita pienryhmissä ja niiden välillä sekä itsearvioitujen ja havainnoitujen tunteiden yhdenmukaisuutta ryhmissä. Tulokset osoittivat yhdenmukaisuutta tunteiden ja suoritusten välillä, mutta keskitason ryhmissä tunnemallit olivat monimutkaisempia. Tutkimuksessa III tavoitteena oli tarkastella opettajan roolia yhteistoiminnallisen tutkivan oppimisen tukijana ja ohjaajana, sekä opettajan tunteita. Tulosten perusteella rakentui neljä erilaista käytäntöä tuelle, ohjaukselle sekä ajankäytölle. Tulokset myös osoittivat opettajien ohjaavan mieluiten ryhmiä, jotka he kokivat aktiivisiksi yhteistoimijoiksi

Question-Answer Structures in Cognition

[Abstract] Peirce’s semeiotic was all about cognitive studies of the mind. His anthropomorphism states that the study of the structures of the world must go through the study of the structures of the mind shaped by experience. This was labelled much later as? Descriptive taphysics? What is the correct method of such an investigation? Peirce thought that all our knowledge-seeking activities must be conducted in terms of Socratic processes of questions and answers. The mind is a dialogical creatory of signs. Rather than? Putting questions to Nature?, the method of doing philosophy, that is pragmaticism, is therefore? Putting questions to mind? In Peirce’s proof of pragmaticism, the crucial steps characterize abduction in terms of signs that give their objects as conclusive answers to questions. Questions are experiments on various ways of finding solutions in our thoughts. And logic is the theory of the inner nature of habits which cater for those solution