Roger W. Shuy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195328837
- eISBN:
- 9780199870165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195328837.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Key employee agreements, sometimes required of high-level employees, often restrict employees from establishing relationships with competing companies for specified periods of time after they leave ...
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Key employee agreements, sometimes required of high-level employees, often restrict employees from establishing relationships with competing companies for specified periods of time after they leave the company. This is called a noncompetition agreement. In this case, the agreement specified what was meant by competition: “ownership interest amounting to at least 1% in the competing enterprise, an officership, directorship, or other policy-making position in the competing enterprise.” Semantics and syntax analysis, including grammatical scope, the semantic meaning of “other,” and intonation were used to help resolve the ambiguity found in this agreement.Less
Key employee agreements, sometimes required of high-level employees, often restrict employees from establishing relationships with competing companies for specified periods of time after they leave the company. This is called a noncompetition agreement. In this case, the agreement specified what was meant by competition: “ownership interest amounting to at least 1% in the competing enterprise, an officership, directorship, or other policy-making position in the competing enterprise.” Semantics and syntax analysis, including grammatical scope, the semantic meaning of “other,” and intonation were used to help resolve the ambiguity found in this agreement.
W. Kip Viscusi
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293637
- eISBN:
- 9780191596995
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198293631.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
Ideally, individual risk‐taking decisions and government risk policies should be based on a rational balancing of risk and cost. Unfortunately, private decisions are subject to a number of biases ...
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Ideally, individual risk‐taking decisions and government risk policies should be based on a rational balancing of risk and cost. Unfortunately, private decisions are subject to a number of biases including overestimation of small probabilities and alarmist responses to ambiguous risks. Hazard warnings can potentially be effective, but are not always ideal, as the people now overestimate the risks of smoking. Labour market estimates of the value of life can provide a rational reference point for benefit‐cost tests of risk regulations. The pressures exerted by irrational public responses to risk often lead to regulations that impose inordinately high costs per life saved. Excessive regulation potentially makes society worse off from a health and safety standpoint as shown by the risk–risk analysis methodology developed in this book. Similarly, liability rules and social insurance systems also should be structured to reflect an efficient balancing of risk and cost.Less
Ideally, individual risk‐taking decisions and government risk policies should be based on a rational balancing of risk and cost. Unfortunately, private decisions are subject to a number of biases including overestimation of small probabilities and alarmist responses to ambiguous risks. Hazard warnings can potentially be effective, but are not always ideal, as the people now overestimate the risks of smoking. Labour market estimates of the value of life can provide a rational reference point for benefit‐cost tests of risk regulations. The pressures exerted by irrational public responses to risk often lead to regulations that impose inordinately high costs per life saved. Excessive regulation potentially makes society worse off from a health and safety standpoint as shown by the risk–risk analysis methodology developed in this book. Similarly, liability rules and social insurance systems also should be structured to reflect an efficient balancing of risk and cost.
Ekkehart Schlicht
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198292241
- eISBN:
- 9780191596865
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198292244.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics, History of Economic Thought
A custom establishes a certain regularity, but this regularity is typically not clearly defined. The scope, where the custom applies, has fuzzy boundaries, and even the content of a custom is ...
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A custom establishes a certain regularity, but this regularity is typically not clearly defined. The scope, where the custom applies, has fuzzy boundaries, and even the content of a custom is typically vaguely defined.Less
A custom establishes a certain regularity, but this regularity is typically not clearly defined. The scope, where the custom applies, has fuzzy boundaries, and even the content of a custom is typically vaguely defined.
Anthony Harkins
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195189506
- eISBN:
- 9780199788835
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189506.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This book examines the evolution of one of the most pervasive and enduring American icons from the 18th-century to the present day. Spanning film, literature, and the entire expanse of American ...
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This book examines the evolution of one of the most pervasive and enduring American icons from the 18th-century to the present day. Spanning film, literature, and the entire expanse of American popular culture, from comics to country music to television and the Internet, the book argues that the longevity of the hillbilly stems from its ambiguity as a marker of both social derision and regional pride. Typically associated with Appalachia or the Ozarks, the “hillbilly” was viewed by mainstream Americans simultaneously as a violent degenerate who threatens the social order, and as a keeper of traditional values of family, home, and physical production. The character was therefore both a foil to an increasingly urbanizing and industrializing America and a symbol of a nostalgic past free of the problems of contemporary life. The book also argues that “hillbillies” have played a critical role in the construction of whiteness and modernity. Middle-class Americans imagined hillbillies, with their supposedly pure Anglo-Saxon or Scottish origins, as an exotic race, akin to blacks and Indians, but still native and white, as opposed to the growing influx of immigrants in the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, the image's whiteness allowed crude caricatures of Southern mountaineers to persist long after similar ethnic and racial stereotypes had become socially unacceptable.Less
This book examines the evolution of one of the most pervasive and enduring American icons from the 18th-century to the present day. Spanning film, literature, and the entire expanse of American popular culture, from comics to country music to television and the Internet, the book argues that the longevity of the hillbilly stems from its ambiguity as a marker of both social derision and regional pride. Typically associated with Appalachia or the Ozarks, the “hillbilly” was viewed by mainstream Americans simultaneously as a violent degenerate who threatens the social order, and as a keeper of traditional values of family, home, and physical production. The character was therefore both a foil to an increasingly urbanizing and industrializing America and a symbol of a nostalgic past free of the problems of contemporary life. The book also argues that “hillbillies” have played a critical role in the construction of whiteness and modernity. Middle-class Americans imagined hillbillies, with their supposedly pure Anglo-Saxon or Scottish origins, as an exotic race, akin to blacks and Indians, but still native and white, as opposed to the growing influx of immigrants in the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, the image's whiteness allowed crude caricatures of Southern mountaineers to persist long after similar ethnic and racial stereotypes had become socially unacceptable.
Justin London
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195160819
- eISBN:
- 9780199786763
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195160819.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This book develops a theory of musical meter based on psychological research in temporal perception, cognition, and motor behavior. Meter is regarded as a kind of entrainment, a synchronization of ...
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This book develops a theory of musical meter based on psychological research in temporal perception, cognition, and motor behavior. Meter is regarded as a kind of entrainment, a synchronization of attention and actions to the rhythms of the environment. Drawing on research on the ability to make durational discriminations and categorizations at various tempos, the “speed limits” for meter are given: the inter-onset interval for metric elements must be greater than 100ms (10 per second) and less than 1.5-2.00 seconds. Care is taken to distinguish rhythms or patterns of duration from meters, the listener/performer's complex patterns of expectation and attention. It is thus shown that metric behaviors are highly tempo-dependent. Ambiguities may arise when a rhythmic pattern may be regarded under more than one meter, and conflicts may arise when a pattern of durations contradicts the ongoing meter. The theoretical core of the book is its development of a set of metric well-formedness constraints, which limit the temporal range and organization of patterns of metric entrainment. A consideration of the rhythmic practices of various non-western cultures, including some African and Indian music, leads to an additional well-formedness constraint, that of maximal evenness. This allows for meters that involve uneven (i.e., non-isochronous) beats. The book concludes with the many meters hypothesis, which proposes that a large number of expressively timed temporal templates are acquired, which are readily used when listening in familiar musical contexts.Less
This book develops a theory of musical meter based on psychological research in temporal perception, cognition, and motor behavior. Meter is regarded as a kind of entrainment, a synchronization of attention and actions to the rhythms of the environment. Drawing on research on the ability to make durational discriminations and categorizations at various tempos, the “speed limits” for meter are given: the inter-onset interval for metric elements must be greater than 100ms (10 per second) and less than 1.5-2.00 seconds. Care is taken to distinguish rhythms or patterns of duration from meters, the listener/performer's complex patterns of expectation and attention. It is thus shown that metric behaviors are highly tempo-dependent. Ambiguities may arise when a rhythmic pattern may be regarded under more than one meter, and conflicts may arise when a pattern of durations contradicts the ongoing meter. The theoretical core of the book is its development of a set of metric well-formedness constraints, which limit the temporal range and organization of patterns of metric entrainment. A consideration of the rhythmic practices of various non-western cultures, including some African and Indian music, leads to an additional well-formedness constraint, that of maximal evenness. This allows for meters that involve uneven (i.e., non-isochronous) beats. The book concludes with the many meters hypothesis, which proposes that a large number of expressively timed temporal templates are acquired, which are readily used when listening in familiar musical contexts.
Daphna Erdinast-Vulcan
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117858
- eISBN:
- 9780191671081
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117858.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism, European Literature
A study which relates Conrad’s work to the crisis of modernity in the late 19th century, this book discusses ‘faultlines’ — ambiguities and apparent aesthetic ruptures — in nine of the major novels ...
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A study which relates Conrad’s work to the crisis of modernity in the late 19th century, this book discusses ‘faultlines’ — ambiguities and apparent aesthetic ruptures — in nine of the major novels and novellas. These faultlines are diagnosed as the symptoms of an unresolved tension between Conrad’s temperamental affinity with the Nietzschean outlook and his fierce ideological rejection of its ultimate implications. Presenting Conrad as ‘a modernist at war with modernity’, the book studies the perpetual tug-of-war between the artistic will to meaning and the writer’s susceptibility to the modern temper, both as a theme and as a structuring principle in his work. The modes of this struggle are defined as the ‘failure of myth’, the ‘failure of metaphysics’, and the ‘failure of textuality’. The inquiry draws on the work of Nietzsche, Vaihinger, Bakhtin, Heller, and MacIntyre, amongst others, to present the ethical and epistemological issues which are interwoven with Conrad’s aesthetics.Less
A study which relates Conrad’s work to the crisis of modernity in the late 19th century, this book discusses ‘faultlines’ — ambiguities and apparent aesthetic ruptures — in nine of the major novels and novellas. These faultlines are diagnosed as the symptoms of an unresolved tension between Conrad’s temperamental affinity with the Nietzschean outlook and his fierce ideological rejection of its ultimate implications. Presenting Conrad as ‘a modernist at war with modernity’, the book studies the perpetual tug-of-war between the artistic will to meaning and the writer’s susceptibility to the modern temper, both as a theme and as a structuring principle in his work. The modes of this struggle are defined as the ‘failure of myth’, the ‘failure of metaphysics’, and the ‘failure of textuality’. The inquiry draws on the work of Nietzsche, Vaihinger, Bakhtin, Heller, and MacIntyre, amongst others, to present the ethical and epistemological issues which are interwoven with Conrad’s aesthetics.
Steven J. Burton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195337495
- eISBN:
- 9780199868650
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195337495.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Law of Obligations
This book examines the American law of contract interpretation in detail. Intended primarily for lawyers, judges, legal scholars, and law students, the book focuses attention on the elements of ...
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This book examines the American law of contract interpretation in detail. Intended primarily for lawyers, judges, legal scholars, and law students, the book focuses attention on the elements of contract interpretation — the evidentiary facts that are legally relevant when interpreting a contract. The book describes and analyzes how courts do and should perform three practical tasks in contract interpretation. First, courts identify the terms to be interpreted (under the parol evidence rule); second, courts decide whether a contract is relevantly ambiguous; third, fact-finders (judges or juries) resolve any ambiguities that appear. The book examines these issues through the lens of three theories that are supposed to tell us how to perform the three tasks to further the goals of contract interpretation. These theories are literalism, objectivism, and subjectivism. In the last chapter, the author makes a novel proposal, which he calls “objective contextual interpretation”.Less
This book examines the American law of contract interpretation in detail. Intended primarily for lawyers, judges, legal scholars, and law students, the book focuses attention on the elements of contract interpretation — the evidentiary facts that are legally relevant when interpreting a contract. The book describes and analyzes how courts do and should perform three practical tasks in contract interpretation. First, courts identify the terms to be interpreted (under the parol evidence rule); second, courts decide whether a contract is relevantly ambiguous; third, fact-finders (judges or juries) resolve any ambiguities that appear. The book examines these issues through the lens of three theories that are supposed to tell us how to perform the three tasks to further the goals of contract interpretation. These theories are literalism, objectivism, and subjectivism. In the last chapter, the author makes a novel proposal, which he calls “objective contextual interpretation”.
Pieter A. M. Seuren
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199559473
- eISBN:
- 9780191721137
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199559473.003.0009
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
This chapter concentrates on the problems posed by lexical meanings for any formal theory. Among the topics discussed are the noncompositionality of compound meanings, vagueness phenomena, the ...
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This chapter concentrates on the problems posed by lexical meanings for any formal theory. Among the topics discussed are the noncompositionality of compound meanings, vagueness phenomena, the nonintersectivity of adjectives, presuppositional aspects of lexical meaning, metaphor, polysemy, built‐in cognitive parameters and intrinsically higher‐order predicates.Less
This chapter concentrates on the problems posed by lexical meanings for any formal theory. Among the topics discussed are the noncompositionality of compound meanings, vagueness phenomena, the nonintersectivity of adjectives, presuppositional aspects of lexical meaning, metaphor, polysemy, built‐in cognitive parameters and intrinsically higher‐order predicates.
Justin London
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199744374
- eISBN:
- 9780199949632
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744374.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Psychology of Music, Theory, Analysis, Composition
This book develops a theory of musical meter based on psychological research in temporal perception, cognition, and motor behavior. Meter is regarded as a kind of entrainment, a synchronization of ...
More
This book develops a theory of musical meter based on psychological research in temporal perception, cognition, and motor behavior. Meter is regarded as a kind of entrainment, a synchronization of attention and actions to the rhythms of the environment. Drawing on research on the ability to make durational discriminations and categorizations at various tempos, as well as evidence from neurobiology, the “speed limits” for meter are given: the inter-onset interval for metric elements must be greater than 100ms (10 per second) and less than 1.5-2.00 seconds. Care is taken to distinguish rhythms or patterns of duration from meters, the listener/performer's complex patterns of expectation and attention. It is thus shown that metric behaviors are highly tempo-dependent. Ambiguities may arise when a rhythmic pattern may be regarded under more than one meter, and conflicts may arise when a pattern of durations contradicts the ongoing meter. The music-theoretical core of the book is its development of a set of metric well-formedness constraints, which limit the temporal range and organization of patterns of metric entrainment. A consideration of the rhythmic practices of various non-western cultures, including some African and Indian music, leads to an additional well-formedness constraint, that of maximal evenness. This allows for meters that involve uneven (i.e., non-isochronous) beats or beat subdivisions. The book concludes with the many meters hypothesis, which proposes that a large number of expressively timed temporal templates are acquired that are readily used when listening in familiar musical contexts.Less
This book develops a theory of musical meter based on psychological research in temporal perception, cognition, and motor behavior. Meter is regarded as a kind of entrainment, a synchronization of attention and actions to the rhythms of the environment. Drawing on research on the ability to make durational discriminations and categorizations at various tempos, as well as evidence from neurobiology, the “speed limits” for meter are given: the inter-onset interval for metric elements must be greater than 100ms (10 per second) and less than 1.5-2.00 seconds. Care is taken to distinguish rhythms or patterns of duration from meters, the listener/performer's complex patterns of expectation and attention. It is thus shown that metric behaviors are highly tempo-dependent. Ambiguities may arise when a rhythmic pattern may be regarded under more than one meter, and conflicts may arise when a pattern of durations contradicts the ongoing meter. The music-theoretical core of the book is its development of a set of metric well-formedness constraints, which limit the temporal range and organization of patterns of metric entrainment. A consideration of the rhythmic practices of various non-western cultures, including some African and Indian music, leads to an additional well-formedness constraint, that of maximal evenness. This allows for meters that involve uneven (i.e., non-isochronous) beats or beat subdivisions. The book concludes with the many meters hypothesis, which proposes that a large number of expressively timed temporal templates are acquired that are readily used when listening in familiar musical contexts.
Chun Wei Choo
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195176780
- eISBN:
- 9780199789634
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176780.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Knowledge Management
In sensemaking, people seek answers to the questions: what is going on in the environment? What does it mean for us as an organization? According to Weick, organizations make sense of their ...
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In sensemaking, people seek answers to the questions: what is going on in the environment? What does it mean for us as an organization? According to Weick, organizations make sense of their environments through the processes of enactment, selection, and retention. Sensemaking is driven by organizational beliefs and actions that direct attention and frame the interpretation of information. The result of sensemaking is an enacted environment that is has been rendered meaningul and understandable. A central problem in sensemaking is how to reduce ambiguity and develop shared meanings so that the organization may act collectively.Less
In sensemaking, people seek answers to the questions: what is going on in the environment? What does it mean for us as an organization? According to Weick, organizations make sense of their environments through the processes of enactment, selection, and retention. Sensemaking is driven by organizational beliefs and actions that direct attention and frame the interpretation of information. The result of sensemaking is an enacted environment that is has been rendered meaningul and understandable. A central problem in sensemaking is how to reduce ambiguity and develop shared meanings so that the organization may act collectively.
