Don Ringe
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199284139
- eISBN:
- 9780191712562
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284139.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This introductory chapter explains the rationale of the book and its intended audience. It indicates briefly the author’s positions on the uniformitarian principle, linguistic descent, the regularity ...
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This introductory chapter explains the rationale of the book and its intended audience. It indicates briefly the author’s positions on the uniformitarian principle, linguistic descent, the regularity of sound change, linguistic reconstruction, and the comparative method.Less
This introductory chapter explains the rationale of the book and its intended audience. It indicates briefly the author’s positions on the uniformitarian principle, linguistic descent, the regularity of sound change, linguistic reconstruction, and the comparative method.
Helmut Hofmann
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198504016
- eISBN:
- 9780191708480
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198504016.003.0026
- Subject:
- Physics, Nuclear and Plasma Physics
This chapter elucidates various mathematical formulas. Based on expressions for Gaussian integrals in one and many dimensions, the methods of stationary phase and steepest descent are deduced, ...
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This chapter elucidates various mathematical formulas. Based on expressions for Gaussian integrals in one and many dimensions, the methods of stationary phase and steepest descent are deduced, representations of the delta-function are given and applied to Fourier and Laplace transformations. For quantal operators, the Mori product is introduced and an important formula for the derivative of exponentials is shown. Elementary properties of spin and isospin are discussed; for fermions, the formalism of second quantization is produced.Less
This chapter elucidates various mathematical formulas. Based on expressions for Gaussian integrals in one and many dimensions, the methods of stationary phase and steepest descent are deduced, representations of the delta-function are given and applied to Fourier and Laplace transformations. For quantal operators, the Mori product is introduced and an important formula for the derivative of exponentials is shown. Elementary properties of spin and isospin are discussed; for fermions, the formalism of second quantization is produced.
Kazuo Fujikawa and Hiroshi Suzuki
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198529132
- eISBN:
- 9780191712821
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198529132.003.0011
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
This chapter considers a possible intuitive explanation of quantum breaking of symmetries as well as the subjects which are not discussed in the main chapters, such as the descent formula for gauge ...
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This chapter considers a possible intuitive explanation of quantum breaking of symmetries as well as the subjects which are not discussed in the main chapters, such as the descent formula for gauge anomalies and the global SU(2) anomaly. The book has concentrated on the rather classical and basic aspects of quantum anomalies, which can be explicitly calculated by an elementary method in the path integral. Advanced subjects such as the anomaly cancellation in superstring theory and supersymmetric theory in general are not discussed in detail, but several references to these subjects are given.Less
This chapter considers a possible intuitive explanation of quantum breaking of symmetries as well as the subjects which are not discussed in the main chapters, such as the descent formula for gauge anomalies and the global SU(2) anomaly. The book has concentrated on the rather classical and basic aspects of quantum anomalies, which can be explicitly calculated by an elementary method in the path integral. Advanced subjects such as the anomaly cancellation in superstring theory and supersymmetric theory in general are not discussed in detail, but several references to these subjects are given.
Samuel Guttenplan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199280896
- eISBN:
- 9780191602627
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199280894.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
Objects of Metaphor offers a philosophical account of the phenomenon of metaphor which is radically different from others in the literature. Yet for all its difference, the underlying ...
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Objects of Metaphor offers a philosophical account of the phenomenon of metaphor which is radically different from others in the literature. Yet for all its difference, the underlying rationale of the account is genuinely ecumenical. If one adopts its perspective, one should be able to understand the substantial correctness of many other accounts, while at the same time seeing why they are not in the end completely correct. The origins of the account lie in an examination of the conception of predication. Unreflectively thought of as a task accomplished by words, it is argued that predication, or something very much like it, can also be accomplished by non-word objects (‘objects’ here include events, states of affairs, situations, actions and the like). Liberated in this way from words, predication becomes one central element in the account of metaphor. The other element is the move from language to objects which, adapting an idea of Quine’s, is thought of as the limiting case of semantic descent. Whilst the Objects of Metaphor account presents other accounts in a new light, its main importance lies in what it says about metaphor itself. Powerful and flexible enough to cope with the syntactic complexity typical of genuine metaphor, it offers novel conceptions of both the relationship between simile and metaphor and the notion of dead metaphor. Additionally, it shows why metaphor is a robust theoretic kind, related to other tropes such as synecdoche and metonymy, but not to be confused with tropes generally, or with the figurative and non-literal.Less
Objects of Metaphor offers a philosophical account of the phenomenon of metaphor which is radically different from others in the literature. Yet for all its difference, the underlying rationale of the account is genuinely ecumenical. If one adopts its perspective, one should be able to understand the substantial correctness of many other accounts, while at the same time seeing why they are not in the end completely correct. The origins of the account lie in an examination of the conception of predication. Unreflectively thought of as a task accomplished by words, it is argued that predication, or something very much like it, can also be accomplished by non-word objects (‘objects’ here include events, states of affairs, situations, actions and the like). Liberated in this way from words, predication becomes one central element in the account of metaphor. The other element is the move from language to objects which, adapting an idea of Quine’s, is thought of as the limiting case of semantic descent. Whilst the Objects of Metaphor account presents other accounts in a new light, its main importance lies in what it says about metaphor itself. Powerful and flexible enough to cope with the syntactic complexity typical of genuine metaphor, it offers novel conceptions of both the relationship between simile and metaphor and the notion of dead metaphor. Additionally, it shows why metaphor is a robust theoretic kind, related to other tropes such as synecdoche and metonymy, but not to be confused with tropes generally, or with the figurative and non-literal.
Aaron P. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296132
- eISBN:
- 9780191712302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296132.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter argues that Eusebius conveys a narrative of Greek descent (in Books 1-6) that begins with the Phoenicians and Egyptians in order to highlight the lateness and dependency of the Greeks ...
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This chapter argues that Eusebius conveys a narrative of Greek descent (in Books 1-6) that begins with the Phoenicians and Egyptians in order to highlight the lateness and dependency of the Greeks upon these ‘barbarian’ nations, and to portray them as embodying negative national character traits. Thus, the Praeparatio can be seen as part of the anti-Greek tradition of historiography that arose among subject peoples (such as Egyptians and Jews) following the conquests of Alexander the Great, but which continued well into the Roman Empire, especially with Philo of Byblos. His narrative is bolstered by a euhemerist interpretation of ancient myths and a critique of allegorical interpretations.Less
This chapter argues that Eusebius conveys a narrative of Greek descent (in Books 1-6) that begins with the Phoenicians and Egyptians in order to highlight the lateness and dependency of the Greeks upon these ‘barbarian’ nations, and to portray them as embodying negative national character traits. Thus, the Praeparatio can be seen as part of the anti-Greek tradition of historiography that arose among subject peoples (such as Egyptians and Jews) following the conquests of Alexander the Great, but which continued well into the Roman Empire, especially with Philo of Byblos. His narrative is bolstered by a euhemerist interpretation of ancient myths and a critique of allegorical interpretations.
Aaron P. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296132
- eISBN:
- 9780191712302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296132.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter traces how Eusebius creates a picture of the ancient Hebrews as chronologically earlier, and culturally and religiously superior to the other nations. However, due to ‘Egyptianization’, ...
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This chapter traces how Eusebius creates a picture of the ancient Hebrews as chronologically earlier, and culturally and religiously superior to the other nations. However, due to ‘Egyptianization’, the Hebrews later fell into the corrupt national form of the ‘Jews’. Moses was seen as the key transitional figure, writing a law that offered an intermediate way of life for the morally-weak Jews. Only some scattered Hebrews remained after this transition to Judaism: Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, and others. For Eusebius, the coming of Christ marked the restoration of the ancient Hebrew nation.Less
This chapter traces how Eusebius creates a picture of the ancient Hebrews as chronologically earlier, and culturally and religiously superior to the other nations. However, due to ‘Egyptianization’, the Hebrews later fell into the corrupt national form of the ‘Jews’. Moses was seen as the key transitional figure, writing a law that offered an intermediate way of life for the morally-weak Jews. Only some scattered Hebrews remained after this transition to Judaism: Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, and others. For Eusebius, the coming of Christ marked the restoration of the ancient Hebrew nation.
Caroline Johnson Hodge
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195182163
- eISBN:
- 9780199785612
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182163.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter proposes a context for interpreting the phrase “in Christ” that would have resonated with Paul's audience: the ideology of patrilineal descent. The same logic which underlies the notion ...
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This chapter proposes a context for interpreting the phrase “in Christ” that would have resonated with Paul's audience: the ideology of patrilineal descent. The same logic which underlies the notion of “coming out of” (ek) your ancestors also shapes the concept of being “in” your ancestors. Indeed, these are two ways of expressing the same relationship: ancestors contain descendants. To understand how “in Christ” fits in with this descent logic, it is instructive to consider the other contexts in which Paul applies a similar concept of being “in” someone: the gentiles are blessed “in” Abraham (Gal 3:8), and true descendants of Abraham are said to be “in” Isaac (Rom 9:7). This chapter discusses a range of texts — Greek, Roman, and Jewish — that maintain similar notions about ancestors and descendants, and then focuses on the Septuagint (Paul's source for this “in” language) and Paul's letters to show how Paul turns this phrase into his own discourse of kinship for gentiles.Less
This chapter proposes a context for interpreting the phrase “in Christ” that would have resonated with Paul's audience: the ideology of patrilineal descent. The same logic which underlies the notion of “coming out of” (ek) your ancestors also shapes the concept of being “in” your ancestors. Indeed, these are two ways of expressing the same relationship: ancestors contain descendants. To understand how “in Christ” fits in with this descent logic, it is instructive to consider the other contexts in which Paul applies a similar concept of being “in” someone: the gentiles are blessed “in” Abraham (Gal 3:8), and true descendants of Abraham are said to be “in” Isaac (Rom 9:7). This chapter discusses a range of texts — Greek, Roman, and Jewish — that maintain similar notions about ancestors and descendants, and then focuses on the Septuagint (Paul's source for this “in” language) and Paul's letters to show how Paul turns this phrase into his own discourse of kinship for gentiles.
Gerald SJ O'Collins
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203130
- eISBN:
- 9780191707742
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203130.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The divine identity of Jesus is essential for the efficacy of salvation and its entire story. That story comprises all the stages in the human history of the incarnate Son of God—right from his ...
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The divine identity of Jesus is essential for the efficacy of salvation and its entire story. That story comprises all the stages in the human history of the incarnate Son of God—right from his conception through to his glorious coming at the end of time.Less
The divine identity of Jesus is essential for the efficacy of salvation and its entire story. That story comprises all the stages in the human history of the incarnate Son of God—right from his conception through to his glorious coming at the end of time.
Vernon Bogdanor
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293347
- eISBN:
- 9780191598821
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198293348.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
The three constitutional crises examined are that caused by the rejection by the House of Lords of Lloyd George's `People's Budget’ of 1909; that caused by the Home Rule Act of 1914; and the ...
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The three constitutional crises examined are that caused by the rejection by the House of Lords of Lloyd George's `People's Budget’ of 1909; that caused by the Home Rule Act of 1914; and the abdication in 1936. Each of these crises posed difficult problems for the sovereigns involved—George V and Edward VIII—and for their Prime Ministers—Asquith and Baldwin. In 1914, George V seriously contemplated refusing royal assent to legislation passed by Parliament. In 1936, abdication, a voluntary renunciation, seemed a threat to the very institution of monarchy, which depends upon automatic hereditary descent. But, paradoxically, the abdication heralded a vote of confidence for monarchy and the new style of limited, constitutional monarchy, as represented by George VI.Less
The three constitutional crises examined are that caused by the rejection by the House of Lords of Lloyd George's `People's Budget’ of 1909; that caused by the Home Rule Act of 1914; and the abdication in 1936. Each of these crises posed difficult problems for the sovereigns involved—George V and Edward VIII—and for their Prime Ministers—Asquith and Baldwin. In 1914, George V seriously contemplated refusing royal assent to legislation passed by Parliament. In 1936, abdication, a voluntary renunciation, seemed a threat to the very institution of monarchy, which depends upon automatic hereditary descent. But, paradoxically, the abdication heralded a vote of confidence for monarchy and the new style of limited, constitutional monarchy, as represented by George VI.
Paul F. Lurquin and Linda Stone
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195315387
- eISBN:
- 9780199785674
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315387.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter describes the Darwin-Wallace theory of evolution by natural selection. In particular, it explains the notion of fitness, which underlies the concepts of descent with modification and the ...
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This chapter describes the Darwin-Wallace theory of evolution by natural selection. In particular, it explains the notion of fitness, which underlies the concepts of descent with modification and the appearance of species categorized into clades. It shows that descent with modification is a much better evolutionary theory than the “Great chain of being” model, which implies that evolution is driven toward the production of more perfect and complex life-forms. Finally, it explains how the science of genetics strongly supports evolution through the notions of mutation, gene frequencies in populations, and drift.Less
This chapter describes the Darwin-Wallace theory of evolution by natural selection. In particular, it explains the notion of fitness, which underlies the concepts of descent with modification and the appearance of species categorized into clades. It shows that descent with modification is a much better evolutionary theory than the “Great chain of being” model, which implies that evolution is driven toward the production of more perfect and complex life-forms. Finally, it explains how the science of genetics strongly supports evolution through the notions of mutation, gene frequencies in populations, and drift.
Sarah Bowen Savant and Helena de Felipe (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748644971
- eISBN:
- 9781474400831
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748644971.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This collection of nine case studies provides an understanding of genealogy in Muslim societies and highlights how ideas about kinship and descent have shaped communal and national identities in such ...
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This collection of nine case studies provides an understanding of genealogy in Muslim societies and highlights how ideas about kinship and descent have shaped communal and national identities in such societies. The volume provides a window onto Muslim societies, particularly with regard to the generation, preservation and manipulation of genealogical knowledge. The case studies draw on primary sources from across the Middle East, the Maghreb, and Sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from works of classical Arabic heritage to oral testimonies gained from fieldwork. They stress the malleability of kinship and memory, along with the interests that this malleability serves. They also address questions about how genealogical knowledge has been generated, how it has empowered political and religious elites, and how it has shaped our understanding of the past. Finally, the book examines the authenticity, legitimacy, and institutionalisation of genealogical knowledge, Muslim hierarchy, and the basis of sectarian, tribal, ethnic and other identities.Less
This collection of nine case studies provides an understanding of genealogy in Muslim societies and highlights how ideas about kinship and descent have shaped communal and national identities in such societies. The volume provides a window onto Muslim societies, particularly with regard to the generation, preservation and manipulation of genealogical knowledge. The case studies draw on primary sources from across the Middle East, the Maghreb, and Sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from works of classical Arabic heritage to oral testimonies gained from fieldwork. They stress the malleability of kinship and memory, along with the interests that this malleability serves. They also address questions about how genealogical knowledge has been generated, how it has empowered political and religious elites, and how it has shaped our understanding of the past. Finally, the book examines the authenticity, legitimacy, and institutionalisation of genealogical knowledge, Muslim hierarchy, and the basis of sectarian, tribal, ethnic and other identities.
Eugene Y. Park
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781503602083
- eISBN:
- 9781503607231
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503602083.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This book seeks a better understanding of the politics, society, and culture of early-modern Korea by tracing and narrating the history of the descendants of the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392). Decades ...
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This book seeks a better understanding of the politics, society, and culture of early-modern Korea by tracing and narrating the history of the descendants of the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392). Decades after persecution that virtually exterminated the former royals, the Kaesŏng Wang, the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910) sought to bolster its legitimacy as the successor of Koryŏ. Emulating Chinese historical precedents, by the mid-fifteenth century, Chosŏn had rehabilitated the surviving Wangs. Contrary to the popular assumption that the Wangs remained politically marginalized, many fared well. The most privileged among them won the patronage of the Chosŏn court for which they performed ancestral rites in honor of certain Koryŏ rulers as selected by Chosŏn, passed government service examinations, attained prestigious offices, commanded armies, and constituted elite lineages throughout Korea. As members of a revived aristocratic descent group, the Kaesŏng Wang were committed to Confucian cultural and moral norms, at the heart of which was a subject’s loyalty to the ruler—the Chosŏn monarch. At the same time, Chosŏn increasingly honored Koryŏ loyalists and legacies. An emerging body of subversive narratives, both written and oral, articulated sympathy toward the Wangs as victims of the tumultuous politics of the Koryŏ-Chosŏn dynastic change, although the Wangs themselves steered clear of this discourse until after Japan’s abolition of the Chosŏn monarchy in 1910. Forces of modernity such as imperialism, colonialism, nationalism, urbanization, industrialization, and immigration transformed the Kaesŏng Wang as the progeny of fallen royals to individuals from all walks of life.Less
This book seeks a better understanding of the politics, society, and culture of early-modern Korea by tracing and narrating the history of the descendants of the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392). Decades after persecution that virtually exterminated the former royals, the Kaesŏng Wang, the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910) sought to bolster its legitimacy as the successor of Koryŏ. Emulating Chinese historical precedents, by the mid-fifteenth century, Chosŏn had rehabilitated the surviving Wangs. Contrary to the popular assumption that the Wangs remained politically marginalized, many fared well. The most privileged among them won the patronage of the Chosŏn court for which they performed ancestral rites in honor of certain Koryŏ rulers as selected by Chosŏn, passed government service examinations, attained prestigious offices, commanded armies, and constituted elite lineages throughout Korea. As members of a revived aristocratic descent group, the Kaesŏng Wang were committed to Confucian cultural and moral norms, at the heart of which was a subject’s loyalty to the ruler—the Chosŏn monarch. At the same time, Chosŏn increasingly honored Koryŏ loyalists and legacies. An emerging body of subversive narratives, both written and oral, articulated sympathy toward the Wangs as victims of the tumultuous politics of the Koryŏ-Chosŏn dynastic change, although the Wangs themselves steered clear of this discourse until after Japan’s abolition of the Chosŏn monarchy in 1910. Forces of modernity such as imperialism, colonialism, nationalism, urbanization, industrialization, and immigration transformed the Kaesŏng Wang as the progeny of fallen royals to individuals from all walks of life.
Emma Dench
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198150510
- eISBN:
- 9780191710018
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198150510.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Modern treatments of Rome have projected in highly emotive terms the perceived problems or the aspirations of the present: ‘race-mixture’ has been blamed for the collapse of the Roman empire. More ...
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Modern treatments of Rome have projected in highly emotive terms the perceived problems or the aspirations of the present: ‘race-mixture’ has been blamed for the collapse of the Roman empire. More recently, Rome and Roman society have been depicted as ‘multicultural’. Moving beyond these and beyond more traditional, juridical approaches to Roman identity, this book focuses on ancient modes of thinking about selves and relationships with other peoples, including descent-myths, history, and ethnographies. It explores the relative importance of sometimes closely interconnected categories of blood descent, language, culture and clothes, and territoriality. Rome's creation of a distinctive imperial shape is understood in the context of the broader ancient Mediterranean world within which the Romans self-consciously situated themselves, and whose modes of thought they appropriated and transformed.Less
Modern treatments of Rome have projected in highly emotive terms the perceived problems or the aspirations of the present: ‘race-mixture’ has been blamed for the collapse of the Roman empire. More recently, Rome and Roman society have been depicted as ‘multicultural’. Moving beyond these and beyond more traditional, juridical approaches to Roman identity, this book focuses on ancient modes of thinking about selves and relationships with other peoples, including descent-myths, history, and ethnographies. It explores the relative importance of sometimes closely interconnected categories of blood descent, language, culture and clothes, and territoriality. Rome's creation of a distinctive imperial shape is understood in the context of the broader ancient Mediterranean world within which the Romans self-consciously situated themselves, and whose modes of thought they appropriated and transformed.
Arnold G. Kluge
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199297306
- eISBN:
- 9780191713729
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297306.003.0002
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Philosophers continue to debate the meaning and rationale behind ‘Ockham's razor’. Two formally distinct justifications for parsimony can be distinguished: one that recommends positing as few ...
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Philosophers continue to debate the meaning and rationale behind ‘Ockham's razor’. Two formally distinct justifications for parsimony can be distinguished: one that recommends positing as few theoretical components as possible, and a second recommending against positing the superfluous. Furthermore, parsimony as applied to phylogenetic inference can be separated into conceptual versus operational aspects. It is argued that phylogenetic inference is ideographic, springing from the idea that the relative recency of common ancestry can be represented directly as a concrete, spatio-temporally restricted, explainable thing — the cladogram — just as it can be accompanying transformations of inherited traits. Any phylogenetic method that assumes an evolutionary model can be criticized since it may assume counter-factual conditionals. Since models are usually statistical, relating them to the necessarily unique hypotheses of phylogeny is illogical. A further argument is that employing a model assumes more than background knowledge: that which is minimally sufficient to provide a causal explanation of historical individuality. Given the ideographic argument presented, in quantitative terms, parsimony should choose the hypothesis of cladistic relationships that minimizes the overall patristic difference, because that hypothesis has the greatest power to explain the independently heritable transformation events as propositions of homology.Less
Philosophers continue to debate the meaning and rationale behind ‘Ockham's razor’. Two formally distinct justifications for parsimony can be distinguished: one that recommends positing as few theoretical components as possible, and a second recommending against positing the superfluous. Furthermore, parsimony as applied to phylogenetic inference can be separated into conceptual versus operational aspects. It is argued that phylogenetic inference is ideographic, springing from the idea that the relative recency of common ancestry can be represented directly as a concrete, spatio-temporally restricted, explainable thing — the cladogram — just as it can be accompanying transformations of inherited traits. Any phylogenetic method that assumes an evolutionary model can be criticized since it may assume counter-factual conditionals. Since models are usually statistical, relating them to the necessarily unique hypotheses of phylogeny is illogical. A further argument is that employing a model assumes more than background knowledge: that which is minimally sufficient to provide a causal explanation of historical individuality. Given the ideographic argument presented, in quantitative terms, parsimony should choose the hypothesis of cladistic relationships that minimizes the overall patristic difference, because that hypothesis has the greatest power to explain the independently heritable transformation events as propositions of homology.
Jan E. De Laet
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199297306
- eISBN:
- 9780191713729
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297306.003.0006
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Problems can arise in parsimony analyses when data sets contain characters that are not applicable across all terminals. Examples of such characters are tail colour when some terminals lack tails, or ...
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Problems can arise in parsimony analyses when data sets contain characters that are not applicable across all terminals. Examples of such characters are tail colour when some terminals lack tails, or positions in DNA sequences in which gaps are present. Focusing on regular single-column characters as classically used in phylogenetic analysis, Farris characterized parsimony as a method that maximizes explanatory power in the sense that most-parsimonious trees are best able to explain observed similarities among organisms by inheritance and common ancestry. This led De Laet to formulate parsimony analysis as two-item analysis, whereby parsimony maximizes the number of observed pairwise similarities that can be explained as identical by virtue of common descent, subject to two methodological constraints: the same evidence should not be taken into account multiple times, and the overall explanation must be free of internal contradictions. In this chapter, the way this formulation can be used to deal with the problem of inapplicables is discussed vis-à-vis the optimization of entire nucleotide sequences as complex characters in a tree alignment.Less
Problems can arise in parsimony analyses when data sets contain characters that are not applicable across all terminals. Examples of such characters are tail colour when some terminals lack tails, or positions in DNA sequences in which gaps are present. Focusing on regular single-column characters as classically used in phylogenetic analysis, Farris characterized parsimony as a method that maximizes explanatory power in the sense that most-parsimonious trees are best able to explain observed similarities among organisms by inheritance and common ancestry. This led De Laet to formulate parsimony analysis as two-item analysis, whereby parsimony maximizes the number of observed pairwise similarities that can be explained as identical by virtue of common descent, subject to two methodological constraints: the same evidence should not be taken into account multiple times, and the overall explanation must be free of internal contradictions. In this chapter, the way this formulation can be used to deal with the problem of inapplicables is discussed vis-à-vis the optimization of entire nucleotide sequences as complex characters in a tree alignment.
HUGH M. THOMAS
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199251230
- eISBN:
- 9780191719134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251230.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
Assimilation and the construction and maintenance of ethnic identities are social processes, and one must not lose sight of the fact that individual humans are the driving force behind them. ...
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Assimilation and the construction and maintenance of ethnic identities are social processes, and one must not lose sight of the fact that individual humans are the driving force behind them. Individual people, by developing new relationships across ethnic lines over the course of generations, cumulatively create assimilation. By exchanging beliefs, practices, and ideas between different groups, they bring about cultural assimilation. The collective impact of their personal decisions causes the loss, maintenance, or triumph of a particular ethnic identity. This chapter explores important issues and problems of methodology, terminology, evidence, and definition concerning the personal interaction between English and Normans. Because the interaction occurred over several generations, the focus is on the precise role of descent in ethnicity in this society.Less
Assimilation and the construction and maintenance of ethnic identities are social processes, and one must not lose sight of the fact that individual humans are the driving force behind them. Individual people, by developing new relationships across ethnic lines over the course of generations, cumulatively create assimilation. By exchanging beliefs, practices, and ideas between different groups, they bring about cultural assimilation. The collective impact of their personal decisions causes the loss, maintenance, or triumph of a particular ethnic identity. This chapter explores important issues and problems of methodology, terminology, evidence, and definition concerning the personal interaction between English and Normans. Because the interaction occurred over several generations, the focus is on the precise role of descent in ethnicity in this society.
Sara Upstone
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719078323
- eISBN:
- 9781781703229
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719078323.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This text focuses solely on the writing of British writers of South Asian descent born or raised in Britain. Exploring the unique contribution of these writers, it positions their work within debates ...
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This text focuses solely on the writing of British writers of South Asian descent born or raised in Britain. Exploring the unique contribution of these writers, it positions their work within debates surrounding black British, diasporic, migrant and postcolonial literature in order to foreground both the continuities and tensions embedded in their relationship to such terms, engaging in particular with the ways in which this ‘new’ generation has been denied the right to a distinctive theoretical framework through absorption into pre-existing frames of reference. Focusing on the diversity of contemporary British Asian experience, the book deals with themes including gender, national and religious identity, the reality of post-9/11 Britain, the post-ethnic self, urban belonging, generational difference and youth identities, as well as indicating how these writers manipulate genre and the novel form in support of their thematic concerns.Less
This text focuses solely on the writing of British writers of South Asian descent born or raised in Britain. Exploring the unique contribution of these writers, it positions their work within debates surrounding black British, diasporic, migrant and postcolonial literature in order to foreground both the continuities and tensions embedded in their relationship to such terms, engaging in particular with the ways in which this ‘new’ generation has been denied the right to a distinctive theoretical framework through absorption into pre-existing frames of reference. Focusing on the diversity of contemporary British Asian experience, the book deals with themes including gender, national and religious identity, the reality of post-9/11 Britain, the post-ethnic self, urban belonging, generational difference and youth identities, as well as indicating how these writers manipulate genre and the novel form in support of their thematic concerns.
Rachel Falconer
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748617630
- eISBN:
- 9780748651733
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748617630.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
What does it mean when people use the word ‘Hell’ to convey the horror of an actual, personal or historical experience? This book explores the idea that modern, Western secular cultures have retained ...
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What does it mean when people use the word ‘Hell’ to convey the horror of an actual, personal or historical experience? This book explores the idea that modern, Western secular cultures have retained a belief in the concept of Hell as an event or experience of endless or unjust suffering. In the contemporary period, the descent to Hell has come to represent the means of recovering – or discovering – selfhood. In exploring these ideas, the book discusses descent journeys in Holocaust testimony and fiction, memoirs of mental illness, and feminist, postmodern and postcolonial narratives written after 1945. A wide range of texts are discussed, including writing by Primo Levi, W.G. Sebald, Anne Michaels, Alasdair Gray and Salman Rushdie, and films such as Coppola's Apocalypse Now and the Matrix trilogy. Drawing on theoretical writing by Bakhtin, Levinas, Derrida, Judith Butler, David Harvey and Paul Ricoeur, the book addresses such broader theoretical issues as: narration and identity; the ethics of the subject; trauma and memory; descent as sexual or political dissent; the interrelation of realism and fantasy; and Occidentalism and Orientalism.Less
What does it mean when people use the word ‘Hell’ to convey the horror of an actual, personal or historical experience? This book explores the idea that modern, Western secular cultures have retained a belief in the concept of Hell as an event or experience of endless or unjust suffering. In the contemporary period, the descent to Hell has come to represent the means of recovering – or discovering – selfhood. In exploring these ideas, the book discusses descent journeys in Holocaust testimony and fiction, memoirs of mental illness, and feminist, postmodern and postcolonial narratives written after 1945. A wide range of texts are discussed, including writing by Primo Levi, W.G. Sebald, Anne Michaels, Alasdair Gray and Salman Rushdie, and films such as Coppola's Apocalypse Now and the Matrix trilogy. Drawing on theoretical writing by Bakhtin, Levinas, Derrida, Judith Butler, David Harvey and Paul Ricoeur, the book addresses such broader theoretical issues as: narration and identity; the ethics of the subject; trauma and memory; descent as sexual or political dissent; the interrelation of realism and fantasy; and Occidentalism and Orientalism.
Stephen Selka
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813031712
- eISBN:
- 9780813039572
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813031712.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
Brazilians of African descent draw upon both Christian and African diasporic religions to construct their racial identities in a variety of intriguing ways. Focusing on the Recôncavo region of ...
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Brazilians of African descent draw upon both Christian and African diasporic religions to construct their racial identities in a variety of intriguing ways. Focusing on the Recôncavo region of north-eastern Brazil—known for its rich Afro-Brazilian traditions and as a center of racial consciousness in the country—this book provides an ethnography that examines what it means to be black in Brazil. It examines how Evangelical Protestantism, Candomblé (traditional Afro-Brazilian religion), and Catholicism—especially progressive Catholicism—are deployed in discursive struggles concerning racism and identity. In the process, the book provides a model of wedding abstract theory with concrete details of everyday life. Revealing the complexity and sometimes contradictory aspects of Afro-Brazilian religious practices and racial identity, the book brings a balanced perspective to polarized discussions of Brazilian racial politics.Less
Brazilians of African descent draw upon both Christian and African diasporic religions to construct their racial identities in a variety of intriguing ways. Focusing on the Recôncavo region of north-eastern Brazil—known for its rich Afro-Brazilian traditions and as a center of racial consciousness in the country—this book provides an ethnography that examines what it means to be black in Brazil. It examines how Evangelical Protestantism, Candomblé (traditional Afro-Brazilian religion), and Catholicism—especially progressive Catholicism—are deployed in discursive struggles concerning racism and identity. In the process, the book provides a model of wedding abstract theory with concrete details of everyday life. Revealing the complexity and sometimes contradictory aspects of Afro-Brazilian religious practices and racial identity, the book brings a balanced perspective to polarized discussions of Brazilian racial politics.
Matthew M. Briones
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691129488
- eISBN:
- 9781400842216
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691129488.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter illustrates how Kikuchi had decided to rejoin his family during the initial phase of the internment. Kikuchi infused the connection to his family with the greatest significance: as an ...
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This chapter illustrates how Kikuchi had decided to rejoin his family during the initial phase of the internment. Kikuchi infused the connection to his family with the greatest significance: as an index of his Americanism, a sign of his loyalty to the nation. Kikuchi's intertwining of his two aspirational families is striking-filiopietism translated into patriotism or, to use his term, Americanism. When the Kikuchis left the Tanforan horse stalls behind at the beginning of September 1942, they were also leaving behind a more cosmopolitan group of evacuees, all of whom had lived in the Bay Area. The Gila River Relocation Center, on the other hand, housed a cross-section of diverse groups of Japanese descent from the West Coast: rural and urban, older Issei bachelors and Nisei families, Kibei, Hawai'ian Nisei, worldly Angelenos, Berkeley academics, and San Joaquin Valley farmers, among many others.Less
This chapter illustrates how Kikuchi had decided to rejoin his family during the initial phase of the internment. Kikuchi infused the connection to his family with the greatest significance: as an index of his Americanism, a sign of his loyalty to the nation. Kikuchi's intertwining of his two aspirational families is striking-filiopietism translated into patriotism or, to use his term, Americanism. When the Kikuchis left the Tanforan horse stalls behind at the beginning of September 1942, they were also leaving behind a more cosmopolitan group of evacuees, all of whom had lived in the Bay Area. The Gila River Relocation Center, on the other hand, housed a cross-section of diverse groups of Japanese descent from the West Coast: rural and urban, older Issei bachelors and Nisei families, Kibei, Hawai'ian Nisei, worldly Angelenos, Berkeley academics, and San Joaquin Valley farmers, among many others.
