Michael Williams
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195169720
- eISBN:
- 9780199786343
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195169727.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This essay argues that the Pyrrhonian regress argument presupposes a Prior Grounding conception of justification. This is contrasted with a Default and Challenge structure, which leads to a ...
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This essay argues that the Pyrrhonian regress argument presupposes a Prior Grounding conception of justification. This is contrasted with a Default and Challenge structure, which leads to a contextualist picture of justification. Contextualism is said to incorporate the best features of its traditionalist rivals — foundationalism and coherentism — and also to avoid skepticism. It is argued that we should not ask which conception is really true, but instead give up epistemological realism.Less
This essay argues that the Pyrrhonian regress argument presupposes a Prior Grounding conception of justification. This is contrasted with a Default and Challenge structure, which leads to a contextualist picture of justification. Contextualism is said to incorporate the best features of its traditionalist rivals — foundationalism and coherentism — and also to avoid skepticism. It is argued that we should not ask which conception is really true, but instead give up epistemological realism.
Kim Oosterlinck
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300190915
- eISBN:
- 9780300220933
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300190915.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This is a book about hope and international finance. The repudiation of Russia’s debt by the Bolsheviks in 1918 affected French investors for several generations. The reason for this was the sheer ...
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This is a book about hope and international finance. The repudiation of Russia’s debt by the Bolsheviks in 1918 affected French investors for several generations. The reason for this was the sheer volume of money lent by institutional investors and private citizens alike. This book focuses on the reasons which prompted French investors to hope they would eventually be repaid. In this financial context, hope was reflected in the fluctuations of Russian bond prices. Indeed, in view of the extreme nature of the repudiation, the prices of Russian sovereign debt experienced only a modest decline. As a matter of fact, they actually increased after the repudiation, and their yields were well below those observed nowadays when sovereign debts are repudiated. Far from being a sign of irrational behaviour, this trend can be attributed to expectations that one or more extreme events could occur. Governments have four key incentives to repay their debts: fear of a loss of reputation and consequent exclusion from capital markets; fear of armed intervention; trade sanctions; and seizure of collateral. In the Russian case, investors remained hopeful for the aforementioned reasons but they also hoped that a third-party government would stand in for the Russian government and fulfil its obligations. This book assesses the relative weight of each of these reasons to hope and shows why investors refused to view their repudiated bonds as valueless.Less
This is a book about hope and international finance. The repudiation of Russia’s debt by the Bolsheviks in 1918 affected French investors for several generations. The reason for this was the sheer volume of money lent by institutional investors and private citizens alike. This book focuses on the reasons which prompted French investors to hope they would eventually be repaid. In this financial context, hope was reflected in the fluctuations of Russian bond prices. Indeed, in view of the extreme nature of the repudiation, the prices of Russian sovereign debt experienced only a modest decline. As a matter of fact, they actually increased after the repudiation, and their yields were well below those observed nowadays when sovereign debts are repudiated. Far from being a sign of irrational behaviour, this trend can be attributed to expectations that one or more extreme events could occur. Governments have four key incentives to repay their debts: fear of a loss of reputation and consequent exclusion from capital markets; fear of armed intervention; trade sanctions; and seizure of collateral. In the Russian case, investors remained hopeful for the aforementioned reasons but they also hoped that a third-party government would stand in for the Russian government and fulfil its obligations. This book assesses the relative weight of each of these reasons to hope and shows why investors refused to view their repudiated bonds as valueless.
Timothy J. O’Donnell
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262028844
- eISBN:
- 9780262326803
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262028844.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter presents simulation results for the English past. The first part of the chapter gives a general overview of the modeling assumptions used for the simulations of the English past-tense ...
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This chapter presents simulation results for the English past. The first part of the chapter gives a general overview of the modeling assumptions used for the simulations of the English past-tense system, including input representations and the training corpus. Latter parts of the chapter discuss simulation results showing that of the five formal models considered in the book, only fragment grammars—the inference-based model—provides an adequate explanation of the major empirical phenomena in the English past. The inference-based model treats the regular rule as a default, applying in cases where no other inflectional process is available, while exhibiting blocking of the regular rule by the irregular forms. Furthermore, the inference-based model explains why blocking is directional, following the elsewhere condition with more specific generalizations typically taking precedence over others. It also provides a partial explanation for cases where blocking fails, for example, cases of overregularization during language acquisition.Less
This chapter presents simulation results for the English past. The first part of the chapter gives a general overview of the modeling assumptions used for the simulations of the English past-tense system, including input representations and the training corpus. Latter parts of the chapter discuss simulation results showing that of the five formal models considered in the book, only fragment grammars—the inference-based model—provides an adequate explanation of the major empirical phenomena in the English past. The inference-based model treats the regular rule as a default, applying in cases where no other inflectional process is available, while exhibiting blocking of the regular rule by the irregular forms. Furthermore, the inference-based model explains why blocking is directional, following the elsewhere condition with more specific generalizations typically taking precedence over others. It also provides a partial explanation for cases where blocking fails, for example, cases of overregularization during language acquisition.
Douglas Schenck and Peter Wilson
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195087147
- eISBN:
- 9780197560532
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195087147.003.0028
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Software Engineering
This Chapter contains a sampler of EXPRESS models, each of which has been used as the basis for the earlier EXPRESS-G model illustrations. No claim is made ...
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This Chapter contains a sampler of EXPRESS models, each of which has been used as the basis for the earlier EXPRESS-G model illustrations. No claim is made that the models are either realistic or good — the models have been constructed to show certain aspects of EXPRESS-G rather than to illustrate information modeling in general. Here is a summary of what the model in Example 20.1 says: a person must be either a male or a female. Every person has some defining characteristics, such as first and last names, date of birth, type of hair, and may also have zero or more children (which are, of course, also people). A male may be married to a female, and vice-versa. The partners in a marriage must be unique — this model is only appropriate for monogamous societies. There is one particular piece of information about females that does not apply to males; a female may have a maiden name. The Age of a person is a derived attribute that is calculated through the function years, which determines the number of years between the date input as a parameter and the current date. A Person has an inverse attribute which relates people who are children to their parents.
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This Chapter contains a sampler of EXPRESS models, each of which has been used as the basis for the earlier EXPRESS-G model illustrations. No claim is made that the models are either realistic or good — the models have been constructed to show certain aspects of EXPRESS-G rather than to illustrate information modeling in general. Here is a summary of what the model in Example 20.1 says: a person must be either a male or a female. Every person has some defining characteristics, such as first and last names, date of birth, type of hair, and may also have zero or more children (which are, of course, also people). A male may be married to a female, and vice-versa. The partners in a marriage must be unique — this model is only appropriate for monogamous societies. There is one particular piece of information about females that does not apply to males; a female may have a maiden name. The Age of a person is a derived attribute that is calculated through the function years, which determines the number of years between the date input as a parameter and the current date. A Person has an inverse attribute which relates people who are children to their parents.
Fred Feldman
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- August 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199265169
- eISBN:
- 9780191601385
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019926516X.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Presents some typical textbook formulations of hedonism. Shows that they are unacceptable as formulations of the view—they fail to state the intended view in a coherent and consistent way. A simple ...
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Presents some typical textbook formulations of hedonism. Shows that they are unacceptable as formulations of the view—they fail to state the intended view in a coherent and consistent way. A simple form of sensory hedonism—‘Default Hedonism’—is then presented. This formulation does not have the defects of typical textbook formulations. Default Hedonism provides a starting point for all the other forms of hedonism to be discussed in the book. Concludes with a somewhat speculative discussion of the hedonism of Aristippus.Less
Presents some typical textbook formulations of hedonism. Shows that they are unacceptable as formulations of the view—they fail to state the intended view in a coherent and consistent way. A simple form of sensory hedonism—‘Default Hedonism’—is then presented. This formulation does not have the defects of typical textbook formulations. Default Hedonism provides a starting point for all the other forms of hedonism to be discussed in the book. Concludes with a somewhat speculative discussion of the hedonism of Aristippus.
Kasia M. Jaszczolt
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- June 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199602469
- eISBN:
- 9780191815867
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199602469.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
The book contains a semantic and metasemantic inquiry into the representation of meaning in linguistic interaction. It offers a new contextualist take on the semantics/pragmatics boundary issue, ...
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The book contains a semantic and metasemantic inquiry into the representation of meaning in linguistic interaction. It offers a new contextualist take on the semantics/pragmatics boundary issue, proposing the most radical form of contextualism to date (called ‘salience-based contextualism’) and arguing that it is the only promising stance on meaning as it allows one to select the cognitively plausible object of enquiry, namely the intended, primary meaning, and adopt it as a unit of semantic analysis in spite of the varying provenance of the contributing information—some of which is traceable to the lexicon and structure, but some of which has to be recovered through various pragmatic processes pertaining to a variety of sources of information. Such a semantics transcends the what is said/what is implicated distinction and heavily relies on the dynamic construction of meaning in discourse, using truth conditions as a tool and at the same time conforming to pragmatic compositionality. The discussions grow out of the earlier work on Default Semantics, adding new arguments in favour of radical contextualism, discussions of grammar vis-à-vis conceptual structure in the composition of meaning, psychologism, salience in interpretation, as well as a new proposal of ‘pragmaticizing’ Kaplan’s characters to account for dynamic word meaning, and arguments and evidence that put into question the indexical/non-indexical distinction, developed in the example of the first-person reference. It contains examples from a variety of languages as well as examples of semantic representations in the metalanguage of Default Semantics.Less
The book contains a semantic and metasemantic inquiry into the representation of meaning in linguistic interaction. It offers a new contextualist take on the semantics/pragmatics boundary issue, proposing the most radical form of contextualism to date (called ‘salience-based contextualism’) and arguing that it is the only promising stance on meaning as it allows one to select the cognitively plausible object of enquiry, namely the intended, primary meaning, and adopt it as a unit of semantic analysis in spite of the varying provenance of the contributing information—some of which is traceable to the lexicon and structure, but some of which has to be recovered through various pragmatic processes pertaining to a variety of sources of information. Such a semantics transcends the what is said/what is implicated distinction and heavily relies on the dynamic construction of meaning in discourse, using truth conditions as a tool and at the same time conforming to pragmatic compositionality. The discussions grow out of the earlier work on Default Semantics, adding new arguments in favour of radical contextualism, discussions of grammar vis-à-vis conceptual structure in the composition of meaning, psychologism, salience in interpretation, as well as a new proposal of ‘pragmaticizing’ Kaplan’s characters to account for dynamic word meaning, and arguments and evidence that put into question the indexical/non-indexical distinction, developed in the example of the first-person reference. It contains examples from a variety of languages as well as examples of semantic representations in the metalanguage of Default Semantics.
Andrew Spencer
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199679928
- eISBN:
- 9780191761508
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679928.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology, Theoretical Linguistics
This chapter proposes a generalized paradigm function (GPF), comprising four separate functions defined over each of the four attributes of the lexical entry, FORM, SYN, SEM, LI, and mapping a ...
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This chapter proposes a generalized paradigm function (GPF), comprising four separate functions defined over each of the four attributes of the lexical entry, FORM, SYN, SEM, LI, and mapping a pairing of 〈LI, {feature set}〉 to some representation. In the case of vanilla inflectional morphology the GPF applies trivially to the SYN, SEM, LI attributes and introduces no change. It therefore reduces to the paradigm function of classical PFM. However, for regular and productive derivational morphology the generalized paradigm function introduces non-trivial changes to all four attributes, including the lexemic index, LI, thus defining a new lexeme in the lexical database. The GPF is also deployed to define the notion ‘lexical entry’ itself: the FORM, SYN, and SEM components are defined over a pairing of the LI and the empty or unspecified feature set, u, so for the two homophonous verb lexemes DRAW1 and DRAW2, the FORM is defined as FORM(DRAW1, u) = FORM(DRAW2, u) = /draw/, while the SEM functions deliver distinct semantic representations for the two lexemes. The model includes a default principle specific to lexeme(LI)-changing morphology, the Derived Lexical Entry Principle: where a generalized paradigm function defines a new LI, either the properties are specified directly by the appropriate component of the generalized paradigm function, or they are replaced by underspecified values. For instance, if DRIVER has a SEM value ‘person who drives (something)’, the SYN attribute and the inflectional properties of the derived lexeme are replaced by the empty property set u. By the ‘Default Cascade’ the derived word will default to a noun syntactically (since DRIVER is ontologically a Thing) and hence morphologically to a noun. Inflecting words are given a morpholexical signature, which defines their morphological category and the features they inflect for. By default, this signature is derived from the SYN representation, but that default can be overridden to account for mismatches (e.g. nouns that inflect like adjectives). The GPF can now be used to define all the intermediate types of lexical relatedness. For instance, a transposition introduces non-trivial changes to the FORM and SYN attributes without changing the SEM and LI attributes, while meaning-bearing (inherent) inflection changes the FORM and SEM attributes without changing the SYN and LI attributes.Less
This chapter proposes a generalized paradigm function (GPF), comprising four separate functions defined over each of the four attributes of the lexical entry, FORM, SYN, SEM, LI, and mapping a pairing of 〈LI, {feature set}〉 to some representation. In the case of vanilla inflectional morphology the GPF applies trivially to the SYN, SEM, LI attributes and introduces no change. It therefore reduces to the paradigm function of classical PFM. However, for regular and productive derivational morphology the generalized paradigm function introduces non-trivial changes to all four attributes, including the lexemic index, LI, thus defining a new lexeme in the lexical database. The GPF is also deployed to define the notion ‘lexical entry’ itself: the FORM, SYN, and SEM components are defined over a pairing of the LI and the empty or unspecified feature set, u, so for the two homophonous verb lexemes DRAW1 and DRAW2, the FORM is defined as FORM(DRAW1, u) = FORM(DRAW2, u) = /draw/, while the SEM functions deliver distinct semantic representations for the two lexemes. The model includes a default principle specific to lexeme(LI)-changing morphology, the Derived Lexical Entry Principle: where a generalized paradigm function defines a new LI, either the properties are specified directly by the appropriate component of the generalized paradigm function, or they are replaced by underspecified values. For instance, if DRIVER has a SEM value ‘person who drives (something)’, the SYN attribute and the inflectional properties of the derived lexeme are replaced by the empty property set u. By the ‘Default Cascade’ the derived word will default to a noun syntactically (since DRIVER is ontologically a Thing) and hence morphologically to a noun. Inflecting words are given a morpholexical signature, which defines their morphological category and the features they inflect for. By default, this signature is derived from the SYN representation, but that default can be overridden to account for mismatches (e.g. nouns that inflect like adjectives). The GPF can now be used to define all the intermediate types of lexical relatedness. For instance, a transposition introduces non-trivial changes to the FORM and SYN attributes without changing the SEM and LI attributes, while meaning-bearing (inherent) inflection changes the FORM and SEM attributes without changing the SYN and LI attributes.
Jens Hagendorff
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199694891
- eISBN:
- 9780191748820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199694891.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
This chapter analyzes the implications of European bank consolidation on the default risk of acquiring banks. For a sample of 134 bidding banks, we employ the Merton distance to default model to show ...
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This chapter analyzes the implications of European bank consolidation on the default risk of acquiring banks. For a sample of 134 bidding banks, we employ the Merton distance to default model to show that, on average, bank mergers are risk neutral. However, for relatively safe banks, mergers generate a significant increase in default risk. This result is particularly pronounced for cross-border and activity-diversifying deals as well as for deals completed under weak bank regulatory regimes. Also, large deals, which pose organizational and procedural hurdles, experience a merger-related increase in default risk. Our results cast doubt on the ability of bank merger activity to exert a risk-reducing and stabilizing effect on the European banking industry.Less
This chapter analyzes the implications of European bank consolidation on the default risk of acquiring banks. For a sample of 134 bidding banks, we employ the Merton distance to default model to show that, on average, bank mergers are risk neutral. However, for relatively safe banks, mergers generate a significant increase in default risk. This result is particularly pronounced for cross-border and activity-diversifying deals as well as for deals completed under weak bank regulatory regimes. Also, large deals, which pose organizational and procedural hurdles, experience a merger-related increase in default risk. Our results cast doubt on the ability of bank merger activity to exert a risk-reducing and stabilizing effect on the European banking industry.
Jens Hagendorff
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199694891
- eISBN:
- 9780191748820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199694891.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
This chapter analyzes a unique and hand collected dataset of executive compensation by all European bank CEOs of listed banks that publish such data. To further expand the sample of banks, this ...
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This chapter analyzes a unique and hand collected dataset of executive compensation by all European bank CEOs of listed banks that publish such data. To further expand the sample of banks, this chapter also includes a sample of similarly sized U.S. banks. The analysis employs the Merton distance to default model to show that increases in CEO cash bonuses lower the default risk of a bank. However, we find no evidence of cash bonuses exerting a risk-reducing effect when banks are financially distressed or when banks operate under weak bank regulatory regimes. Our results link bonus compensation in banking to financial stability and caution that attempts to regulate bonus pay need to tailor CEO incentives to the riskiness of banks and to regulatory regimes.Less
This chapter analyzes a unique and hand collected dataset of executive compensation by all European bank CEOs of listed banks that publish such data. To further expand the sample of banks, this chapter also includes a sample of similarly sized U.S. banks. The analysis employs the Merton distance to default model to show that increases in CEO cash bonuses lower the default risk of a bank. However, we find no evidence of cash bonuses exerting a risk-reducing effect when banks are financially distressed or when banks operate under weak bank regulatory regimes. Our results link bonus compensation in banking to financial stability and caution that attempts to regulate bonus pay need to tailor CEO incentives to the riskiness of banks and to regulatory regimes.
Anna Wierzbicka
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199321490
- eISBN:
- 9780199369263
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199321490.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, English Language
This chapter takes as its point of departure British writer Zadie Smith’s definition of language as “shared words that fit the world as you believe it to be” and illustrates its aptness with examples ...
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This chapter takes as its point of departure British writer Zadie Smith’s definition of language as “shared words that fit the world as you believe it to be” and illustrates its aptness with examples from English and the Australian language Warlpiri. Each language offers its speakers a set of words that appear to “fit the world as it is” but that in fact derive from the speakers’ own culture, history, interests, and needs. The chapter shows how this insight applies to the domain of color and how English color words have been reified in the successive versions of the Berlin and Kay popular theory of “basic color words.” It also discusses the different conceptualization of landscape in English (British and Australian), drawing on Australian historian Jay Arthur’s observation that Australians are trapped in the language of the ‘Default Country’ (England).Less
This chapter takes as its point of departure British writer Zadie Smith’s definition of language as “shared words that fit the world as you believe it to be” and illustrates its aptness with examples from English and the Australian language Warlpiri. Each language offers its speakers a set of words that appear to “fit the world as it is” but that in fact derive from the speakers’ own culture, history, interests, and needs. The chapter shows how this insight applies to the domain of color and how English color words have been reified in the successive versions of the Berlin and Kay popular theory of “basic color words.” It also discusses the different conceptualization of landscape in English (British and Australian), drawing on Australian historian Jay Arthur’s observation that Australians are trapped in the language of the ‘Default Country’ (England).
Douglas Schenck and Peter Wilson
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195087147
- eISBN:
- 9780197560532
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195087147.003.0012
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Software Engineering
We now look at some of the more general principles which should be applied when creating an information model. These principles have evolved through ...
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We now look at some of the more general principles which should be applied when creating an information model. These principles have evolved through experience in creating a wide variety of models. We have tried to separate the topics but, as with any non-trivial subject, there are inevitably overlaps between these, and also some of the principles exhibit a creative tension between them. That is to say that complete adherence to one principle may prevent complete adherence to another; there are trade-offs that can be made and these will vary according to the modeling scope and purpose, and the choice of representation methods. In general, an information model should be precise, complete, non-ambiguous, minimally redundant and implementation independent. The modeling should tend towards clarity rather than conciseness. An information model, although if defined via EXPRESS is computer interpretable, should primarily be designed for a human reader. The modeling constructs should be chosen to aid the reader rather than obfuscate understanding by using complex, intertwined or opaque definitional relationships, particularly if they are comingled with obscure, pretentious, tautological and circumlocutory prosody. It is advantageous to present a model in more than one way, for example using both lexical and graphical representations. This, though, raises a potential ambiguity problem when the multiple representations are not in agreement. Any model that involves multiple representations must be clear about which representation is primary, so the ‘legal’ source is clear in case of disagreements between the various model forms. Define the scope and assumptions of the information model. This should be done at the start of the modeling project. It may turn out that for a complex model, the overall scoping statement can be partitioned into several more detailed scopes each of which serves a particular purpose in the overall model. A scope also defines a context in which the model items reside, thus providing a specific viewpoint in which the items are defined. One view of a model is that it can be considered to consist of a set of scopes and contexts within which the details are represented. The model should be documented according to these aspects.
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We now look at some of the more general principles which should be applied when creating an information model. These principles have evolved through experience in creating a wide variety of models. We have tried to separate the topics but, as with any non-trivial subject, there are inevitably overlaps between these, and also some of the principles exhibit a creative tension between them. That is to say that complete adherence to one principle may prevent complete adherence to another; there are trade-offs that can be made and these will vary according to the modeling scope and purpose, and the choice of representation methods. In general, an information model should be precise, complete, non-ambiguous, minimally redundant and implementation independent. The modeling should tend towards clarity rather than conciseness. An information model, although if defined via EXPRESS is computer interpretable, should primarily be designed for a human reader. The modeling constructs should be chosen to aid the reader rather than obfuscate understanding by using complex, intertwined or opaque definitional relationships, particularly if they are comingled with obscure, pretentious, tautological and circumlocutory prosody. It is advantageous to present a model in more than one way, for example using both lexical and graphical representations. This, though, raises a potential ambiguity problem when the multiple representations are not in agreement. Any model that involves multiple representations must be clear about which representation is primary, so the ‘legal’ source is clear in case of disagreements between the various model forms. Define the scope and assumptions of the information model. This should be done at the start of the modeling project. It may turn out that for a complex model, the overall scoping statement can be partitioned into several more detailed scopes each of which serves a particular purpose in the overall model. A scope also defines a context in which the model items reside, thus providing a specific viewpoint in which the items are defined. One view of a model is that it can be considered to consist of a set of scopes and contexts within which the details are represented. The model should be documented according to these aspects.
Garrett Hardin
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195078114
- eISBN:
- 9780197560716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195078114.003.0024
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Economic Geography
Anything to be done about human populations necessarily depends on the will to do it. But what does the word will mean? Much has been written about it, but ...
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Anything to be done about human populations necessarily depends on the will to do it. But what does the word will mean? Much has been written about it, but most of the rhetoric is nonsense. Rather than add one more explicit (and probably faulty) definition to the roster I will treat "will" ostensively, that is by pointing to passages that throw some light on its meaning (Box 18-1). The contributions of academics are commonly belittled by "practical" people, who trust more in the guidance of intuition. In a classic statement John Maynard Keynes argued that such guidance often came through unconscious memory. Because of the heavy demands on their time, politicians seldom read any work of substance after the age of thirty. Their responses are, Keynes said, distilled "from some academic scribbler a few years back." Looking at the situation with a different orientation in time, we argue that it is worthwhile for the inventor or scholar to try to get his views accepted by those who are young and powerless now because some of them may have political power two decades from now, when their days of leisurely reading are long past. In the unending development of human civilization what men think will happen can influence what does happen. The connection between the original ideas and their conversion into action is not rigid, determinative, or well understood: but there is a connection, and this appeals to the ambitions of social inventors. Consequently, as Dennis Gabor says, "The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented." As concerns the size of future populations, humanity's problem is to invent the answer. What size do we want human populations to be? On what assumptions do our answers rest? Precisely how can human consent be engineered? There is no pure population problem: the problem is one of population and resources. The well-being of a population depends on the ratio of the size of the population to the magnitude of available resources. What the future holds for population considered by itself is simple enough, as Malthus knew: the perpetual threat posed by population's ability to increase exponentially. But resources? Malthus stubbed his toe on this one, and people are still arguing. The arguments center around the concept of scarcity and the relevance of statistics to predicting the future.
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Anything to be done about human populations necessarily depends on the will to do it. But what does the word will mean? Much has been written about it, but most of the rhetoric is nonsense. Rather than add one more explicit (and probably faulty) definition to the roster I will treat "will" ostensively, that is by pointing to passages that throw some light on its meaning (Box 18-1). The contributions of academics are commonly belittled by "practical" people, who trust more in the guidance of intuition. In a classic statement John Maynard Keynes argued that such guidance often came through unconscious memory. Because of the heavy demands on their time, politicians seldom read any work of substance after the age of thirty. Their responses are, Keynes said, distilled "from some academic scribbler a few years back." Looking at the situation with a different orientation in time, we argue that it is worthwhile for the inventor or scholar to try to get his views accepted by those who are young and powerless now because some of them may have political power two decades from now, when their days of leisurely reading are long past. In the unending development of human civilization what men think will happen can influence what does happen. The connection between the original ideas and their conversion into action is not rigid, determinative, or well understood: but there is a connection, and this appeals to the ambitions of social inventors. Consequently, as Dennis Gabor says, "The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented." As concerns the size of future populations, humanity's problem is to invent the answer. What size do we want human populations to be? On what assumptions do our answers rest? Precisely how can human consent be engineered? There is no pure population problem: the problem is one of population and resources. The well-being of a population depends on the ratio of the size of the population to the magnitude of available resources. What the future holds for population considered by itself is simple enough, as Malthus knew: the perpetual threat posed by population's ability to increase exponentially. But resources? Malthus stubbed his toe on this one, and people are still arguing. The arguments center around the concept of scarcity and the relevance of statistics to predicting the future.
Garrett Hardin
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195078114
- eISBN:
- 9780197560716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195078114.003.0009
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Economic Geography
"There are three kinds of lies," said Benjamin Disraeli, Queen Victoria's favorite prime minister: "lies, damned lies and statistics." Scientists are ...
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"There are three kinds of lies," said Benjamin Disraeli, Queen Victoria's favorite prime minister: "lies, damned lies and statistics." Scientists are inclined to argue with this, holding that statistics (properly used) are one of the glories of the scientific method. But since statistics are often not properly used it must be admitted that Disraeli had a point. As used, statistics are often a sort of black magic, accompanied by a disparagement of common sense. That won't do. As the logician Willard Van Orman Quine has said: "Science itself is a continuation of common sense. The scientist is indistinguishable from the common man in his sense of evidence, except that the scientist is more careful.” The physicist John Platt agrees in minimizing the distance between science and common sense: "It may surprise many people to know that the chain of new scientific reasoning in a whole research study is frequently less complex than an everyday business decision or a crossword puzzle or a game of chess. It would have a salutary effect on our attitudes if for twenty-four hours we could cross out the words 'science' and 'scientist' wherever they appear and put in their place the words 'man reasoning.'" Stereotypes of scientists often imply that being scientific means having a perpetually open mind. Not so. A claim that lies too far outside the accepted view of things is often completely ignored by the scientific community. For instance, half a century ago the writer of a letter to the British journal Nature claimed that the average gestation period of different animals, from rabbits to cows, was an integral multiple of the number pi (3.14159 . . .). The evidence was ample, the statistical agreement was good. But, to this day, the scientific community has ignored this claim. No understandable reason was proposed for the association of the two phenomena, and no one has been able to imagine any. It is just too ridiculous. Evidently the scientific mind is not completely open. To what extent is it closed, and how is this partial closure justified? Since population inquiries are beset by statistics, we need to understand the accepted limits of scientific inquiry.
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"There are three kinds of lies," said Benjamin Disraeli, Queen Victoria's favorite prime minister: "lies, damned lies and statistics." Scientists are inclined to argue with this, holding that statistics (properly used) are one of the glories of the scientific method. But since statistics are often not properly used it must be admitted that Disraeli had a point. As used, statistics are often a sort of black magic, accompanied by a disparagement of common sense. That won't do. As the logician Willard Van Orman Quine has said: "Science itself is a continuation of common sense. The scientist is indistinguishable from the common man in his sense of evidence, except that the scientist is more careful.” The physicist John Platt agrees in minimizing the distance between science and common sense: "It may surprise many people to know that the chain of new scientific reasoning in a whole research study is frequently less complex than an everyday business decision or a crossword puzzle or a game of chess. It would have a salutary effect on our attitudes if for twenty-four hours we could cross out the words 'science' and 'scientist' wherever they appear and put in their place the words 'man reasoning.'" Stereotypes of scientists often imply that being scientific means having a perpetually open mind. Not so. A claim that lies too far outside the accepted view of things is often completely ignored by the scientific community. For instance, half a century ago the writer of a letter to the British journal Nature claimed that the average gestation period of different animals, from rabbits to cows, was an integral multiple of the number pi (3.14159 . . .). The evidence was ample, the statistical agreement was good. But, to this day, the scientific community has ignored this claim. No understandable reason was proposed for the association of the two phenomena, and no one has been able to imagine any. It is just too ridiculous. Evidently the scientific mind is not completely open. To what extent is it closed, and how is this partial closure justified? Since population inquiries are beset by statistics, we need to understand the accepted limits of scientific inquiry.
Kim Oosterlinck
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300190915
- eISBN:
- 9780300220933
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300190915.003.0002
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
The first chapter details the nature of sovereign debts. The sovereign nature of the issuer has an enormous impact in terms of risk. At the very least, one may argue that sovereign bonds have a split ...
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The first chapter details the nature of sovereign debts. The sovereign nature of the issuer has an enormous impact in terms of risk. At the very least, one may argue that sovereign bonds have a split personality in terms of risk. Indeed, debt issued by a government can be considered as either the safest financial asset or one of the riskiest. This chapter details the incentives governments have to repay their debts. It further shows the difference between default and repudiation. When states default they declare themselves unable to repay their debts. In the case of repudiation the legality of the debts is questioned. The difference is especially relevant in the Russian case as the Soviets decided to repudiate the Tsarist debts to mark a clear break with the previous regime. The chapter ends by detailing how the nature of lenders may affect negotiations and reimbursement.Less
The first chapter details the nature of sovereign debts. The sovereign nature of the issuer has an enormous impact in terms of risk. At the very least, one may argue that sovereign bonds have a split personality in terms of risk. Indeed, debt issued by a government can be considered as either the safest financial asset or one of the riskiest. This chapter details the incentives governments have to repay their debts. It further shows the difference between default and repudiation. When states default they declare themselves unable to repay their debts. In the case of repudiation the legality of the debts is questioned. The difference is especially relevant in the Russian case as the Soviets decided to repudiate the Tsarist debts to mark a clear break with the previous regime. The chapter ends by detailing how the nature of lenders may affect negotiations and reimbursement.
Alvin I. Goldman and Jordan C. Lucy
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199692972
- eISBN:
- 9780191758515
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199692972.003.0025
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter updates the case for the simulation approach to mindreading. It shows how simulation theory successfully addresses four questions: (1) how mental-state attribution tasks are executed; ...
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This chapter updates the case for the simulation approach to mindreading. It shows how simulation theory successfully addresses four questions: (1) how mental-state attribution tasks are executed; (2) how simulation figures in the early acquisition of mentalizing; (3) how simulation comports with evidence about the neural basis of mentalizing, and (4) how it meshes with plausible accounts of brain evolution. A duplex approach to mindreading is presented that exemplifies the familiar dual-process model of cognition. “Enactment” imagination drives high-level mindreading whereas mirroring is the basis of low-level mindreading. The power of simulation is supported by a recent study showing that merely imagining eating can mimic genuine eating. Rival theories of mindreading (e.g., theory-theory and rationality theory) provide little or no explanation of many species of mindreading, especially attribution of sensations and emotions by means of facial expressions and other observable cues.Less
This chapter updates the case for the simulation approach to mindreading. It shows how simulation theory successfully addresses four questions: (1) how mental-state attribution tasks are executed; (2) how simulation figures in the early acquisition of mentalizing; (3) how simulation comports with evidence about the neural basis of mentalizing, and (4) how it meshes with plausible accounts of brain evolution. A duplex approach to mindreading is presented that exemplifies the familiar dual-process model of cognition. “Enactment” imagination drives high-level mindreading whereas mirroring is the basis of low-level mindreading. The power of simulation is supported by a recent study showing that merely imagining eating can mimic genuine eating. Rival theories of mindreading (e.g., theory-theory and rationality theory) provide little or no explanation of many species of mindreading, especially attribution of sensations and emotions by means of facial expressions and other observable cues.
Christopher Ali
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040726
- eISBN:
- 9780252099168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040726.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
The introductory chapter introduces the reader to the concept of localism in both broadcast policy and critical theory. It also provides a brief historical overview of local broadcast policy in the ...
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The introductory chapter introduces the reader to the concept of localism in both broadcast policy and critical theory. It also provides a brief historical overview of local broadcast policy in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, and unpacks the methods and methodologies employed in the research. More specifically, it discusses the value of document analysis and interviews to critical media policy studies, explains critical discourse analysis, and introduces the concept of critical regionalism which will be further explicated in chapter 1. Additionally, the chapter introduces the reader to two terms coined in the book: “the political economy of localism” and “default localism.” The chapter concludes with an outline of the chapters to follow.Less
The introductory chapter introduces the reader to the concept of localism in both broadcast policy and critical theory. It also provides a brief historical overview of local broadcast policy in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, and unpacks the methods and methodologies employed in the research. More specifically, it discusses the value of document analysis and interviews to critical media policy studies, explains critical discourse analysis, and introduces the concept of critical regionalism which will be further explicated in chapter 1. Additionally, the chapter introduces the reader to two terms coined in the book: “the political economy of localism” and “default localism.” The chapter concludes with an outline of the chapters to follow.
Christopher Ali
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040726
- eISBN:
- 9780252099168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040726.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Chapter 5 chronicles regulatory attempts to bolster local television, particularly local television news, in the US, UK and Canada. It argues that each of these attempts ultimately fell victim to ...
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Chapter 5 chronicles regulatory attempts to bolster local television, particularly local television news, in the US, UK and Canada. It argues that each of these attempts ultimately fell victim to status quo thinking, a reliance on market factors, and a fallback to default localism. The American case study is an analysis of the FCC’s Broadcast Localism Inquiry. The Canadian case study is an evaluation of the Local Programming Improvement Fund, a subsidy to bolster local news amongst television stations. The UK case study is on the Local Digital Television Programme Service, which was an attempt to establish a local television system akin to those in North America in 2013.Less
Chapter 5 chronicles regulatory attempts to bolster local television, particularly local television news, in the US, UK and Canada. It argues that each of these attempts ultimately fell victim to status quo thinking, a reliance on market factors, and a fallback to default localism. The American case study is an analysis of the FCC’s Broadcast Localism Inquiry. The Canadian case study is an evaluation of the Local Programming Improvement Fund, a subsidy to bolster local news amongst television stations. The UK case study is on the Local Digital Television Programme Service, which was an attempt to establish a local television system akin to those in North America in 2013.
Christopher Ali
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040726
- eISBN:
- 9780252099168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040726.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
In Chapter 6, the case studies are analyzed through the frameworks of critical regionalism and critical political economy. The first section describes how a political economy of localism has come to ...
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In Chapter 6, the case studies are analyzed through the frameworks of critical regionalism and critical political economy. The first section describes how a political economy of localism has come to exist within media policy discourse. This system favors the status quo over alternatives, tethers local media exclusively to specific places, and impedes our ability to think through ways to bridge the spatial and social divides of localism. The second section reintroduces critical regionalism as an approach that tempers this political economy. The chapter argues that while the political economy of localism works to stifle policy alternatives, there are policy windows – “moments of critical regionalism” – that require our attention. The chapter offers a definition of media localism based on critical regionalism and the case studies.Less
In Chapter 6, the case studies are analyzed through the frameworks of critical regionalism and critical political economy. The first section describes how a political economy of localism has come to exist within media policy discourse. This system favors the status quo over alternatives, tethers local media exclusively to specific places, and impedes our ability to think through ways to bridge the spatial and social divides of localism. The second section reintroduces critical regionalism as an approach that tempers this political economy. The chapter argues that while the political economy of localism works to stifle policy alternatives, there are policy windows – “moments of critical regionalism” – that require our attention. The chapter offers a definition of media localism based on critical regionalism and the case studies.
Price Fishback, Jonathan Rose, and Kenneth Snowden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226082448
- eISBN:
- 9780226082585
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226082585.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter describes the foreclosure crisis of the 1930s. Borrower defaults were rooted in the double trigger of reduced incomes and lower house prices, as well as the fragile structure of ...
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This chapter describes the foreclosure crisis of the 1930s. Borrower defaults were rooted in the double trigger of reduced incomes and lower house prices, as well as the fragile structure of contracts discussed in the previous chapter. The result was a self-reinforcing cycle of foreclosures and weaker house prices. As lenders’ financial positions weakened, the flow of new credit fell to historic lows. By March 1933, the housing and mortgage markets in the U.S. were in a downward spiral with no end in sight.Less
This chapter describes the foreclosure crisis of the 1930s. Borrower defaults were rooted in the double trigger of reduced incomes and lower house prices, as well as the fragile structure of contracts discussed in the previous chapter. The result was a self-reinforcing cycle of foreclosures and weaker house prices. As lenders’ financial positions weakened, the flow of new credit fell to historic lows. By March 1933, the housing and mortgage markets in the U.S. were in a downward spiral with no end in sight.
Scott C. Styles
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781845861018
- eISBN:
- 9781474406239
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781845861018.003.0012
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
Oil and gas exploration and production is an expensive process beset with a variety of risk. An exploration well may find nothing, meaning that that the entire cost of the drilling has been “thrown ...
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Oil and gas exploration and production is an expensive process beset with a variety of risk. An exploration well may find nothing, meaning that that the entire cost of the drilling has been “thrown away”; cost increases or falling oil price may make a project that has been commenced uneconomic; or something may go disastrously wrong, resulting in massive financial liability. In order to spread the risk of such eventualities, as well as for other ancillary reasons, exploration and production companies tend to work together cooperatively in joint ventures. This chapter discusses the contract –the Joint Operating Agreement – by which these joint ventures implemented. The chapter describes and critically comments upon the key features of these agreements, including issues such as whether these contracts constitute a partnership, the role of the operator and of the Opcom, the consequences of default and of disagreement within the joint venture, the regulation of pre-emption and the state’s role in e.g. approving the operator and controlling the transfer of a stake in a JOA.Less
Oil and gas exploration and production is an expensive process beset with a variety of risk. An exploration well may find nothing, meaning that that the entire cost of the drilling has been “thrown away”; cost increases or falling oil price may make a project that has been commenced uneconomic; or something may go disastrously wrong, resulting in massive financial liability. In order to spread the risk of such eventualities, as well as for other ancillary reasons, exploration and production companies tend to work together cooperatively in joint ventures. This chapter discusses the contract –the Joint Operating Agreement – by which these joint ventures implemented. The chapter describes and critically comments upon the key features of these agreements, including issues such as whether these contracts constitute a partnership, the role of the operator and of the Opcom, the consequences of default and of disagreement within the joint venture, the regulation of pre-emption and the state’s role in e.g. approving the operator and controlling the transfer of a stake in a JOA.