Ronald K. S. Macaulay
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195173819
- eISBN:
- 9780199788361
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195173819.003.0013
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter summarizes the statistically significant results obtained through the use of the Mann-Whitney nonparametric test. Of the forty-six statistically significant differences, ten refer to ...
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This chapter summarizes the statistically significant results obtained through the use of the Mann-Whitney nonparametric test. Of the forty-six statistically significant differences, ten refer to social class differences, sixteen to gender differences, and twenty to age differences. This gives a ranking of age > gender > social class for the findings. The social class, gender, and age differences are presented in summary form.Less
This chapter summarizes the statistically significant results obtained through the use of the Mann-Whitney nonparametric test. Of the forty-six statistically significant differences, ten refer to social class differences, sixteen to gender differences, and twenty to age differences. This gives a ranking of age > gender > social class for the findings. The social class, gender, and age differences are presented in summary form.
Jie W Weiss and David J Weiss
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195322989
- eISBN:
- 9780199869206
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195322989.003.0019
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
An important element in using evidence to select therapy is the determination of whether a treatment is clinically superior to its competitors. This chapter argues that the determination is a ...
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An important element in using evidence to select therapy is the determination of whether a treatment is clinically superior to its competitors. This chapter argues that the determination is a decision requiring both kinds of information that are necessary in decision analysis: the probabilities and values associated with the possible outcomes. It is debatable whether significance tests answer questions about probabilities in a form suitable for decision making. But significance tests cannot answer questions about the comparative values of different treatments. The preferable option is the one with the highest expected utility, where expected utility is the product of probability times utility.Less
An important element in using evidence to select therapy is the determination of whether a treatment is clinically superior to its competitors. This chapter argues that the determination is a decision requiring both kinds of information that are necessary in decision analysis: the probabilities and values associated with the possible outcomes. It is debatable whether significance tests answer questions about probabilities in a form suitable for decision making. But significance tests cannot answer questions about the comparative values of different treatments. The preferable option is the one with the highest expected utility, where expected utility is the product of probability times utility.
Barry Stroud
- Published in print:
- 1984
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198247616
- eISBN:
- 9780191598494
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198247613.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
The thesis of scepticism is a thesis about the human condition: the view that we can know nothing, or that nothing is certain, or that everything is open to doubt. This book examines the sceptical ...
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The thesis of scepticism is a thesis about the human condition: the view that we can know nothing, or that nothing is certain, or that everything is open to doubt. This book examines the sceptical thesis that we can know nothing about the physical world around us. The author argues that the sceptical thesis is motivated by a persistent philosophical problem that calls the very possibility of knowledge about the external world into question, and that the sceptical thesis is the only acceptable answer to this problem as traditionally posed.On the basis of a detailed analysis of the sceptical argument advanced by Descartes, Stroud discusses and criticizes responses to scepticism by a wide range of writers, including J. L. Austin, G. E. Moore, Kant, R. Carnap, and W. V. Quine. In this discussion, Stroud is concerned with the significance of philosophical scepticism in three different respects.Firstly, he shows philosophical scepticism to be significant as opposed to insignificant or unimportant: the philosophical study of knowledge is not an idle exercise, and the comforting popular belief that we already understand quite well how and why philosophical scepticism goes wrong is simply not true.Secondly, Stroud argues for the significance of philosophical scepticism by defending it against the charge that it is meaningless or incoherent or unintelligible, and in doing so aims to articulate as clearly as possible what exactly it does mean.Thirdly, and most importantly, Stroud argues that philosophical scepticism is significant in virtue of what it signifies, or indicates, or shows: even if the sceptical thesis turned out to be false, meant nothing, or not what it seemed to mean, the study of scepticism about the the world around us would still reveal something deep and important about human knowledge and human nature and the urge to understand them philosophically. One aim of the book is to investigate how and why this is so. Engaging in a philosophical reflection about our knowledge of the external world in this way, Stroud argues, can also reveal something about the nature of philosophical problems generally and about philosophy itself; studying the sources of the philosophical problem of scepticism can yield some degree of philosophical understanding or illumination even if we never arrive at something we can regard as a solution to that problem.Less
The thesis of scepticism is a thesis about the human condition: the view that we can know nothing, or that nothing is certain, or that everything is open to doubt. This book examines the sceptical thesis that we can know nothing about the physical world around us. The author argues that the sceptical thesis is motivated by a persistent philosophical problem that calls the very possibility of knowledge about the external world into question, and that the sceptical thesis is the only acceptable answer to this problem as traditionally posed.
On the basis of a detailed analysis of the sceptical argument advanced by Descartes, Stroud discusses and criticizes responses to scepticism by a wide range of writers, including J. L. Austin, G. E. Moore, Kant, R. Carnap, and W. V. Quine. In this discussion, Stroud is concerned with the significance of philosophical scepticism in three different respects.
Firstly, he shows philosophical scepticism to be significant as opposed to insignificant or unimportant: the philosophical study of knowledge is not an idle exercise, and the comforting popular belief that we already understand quite well how and why philosophical scepticism goes wrong is simply not true.
Secondly, Stroud argues for the significance of philosophical scepticism by defending it against the charge that it is meaningless or incoherent or unintelligible, and in doing so aims to articulate as clearly as possible what exactly it does mean.
Thirdly, and most importantly, Stroud argues that philosophical scepticism is significant in virtue of what it signifies, or indicates, or shows: even if the sceptical thesis turned out to be false, meant nothing, or not what it seemed to mean, the study of scepticism about the the world around us would still reveal something deep and important about human knowledge and human nature and the urge to understand them philosophically. One aim of the book is to investigate how and why this is so. Engaging in a philosophical reflection about our knowledge of the external world in this way, Stroud argues, can also reveal something about the nature of philosophical problems generally and about philosophy itself; studying the sources of the philosophical problem of scepticism can yield some degree of philosophical understanding or illumination even if we never arrive at something we can regard as a solution to that problem.
Rein Taagepera
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199534661
- eISBN:
- 9780191715921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199534661.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
When a number of social scientists were given synthetic data that fitted the universal law of gravitation, they all missed the underlying pattern. Yet they found results satisfactory and complete by ...
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When a number of social scientists were given synthetic data that fitted the universal law of gravitation, they all missed the underlying pattern. Yet they found results satisfactory and complete by the current social science norms: high R 2, degree of significance of input factors, and the direction of their impact. The design of this experiment can be criticized, but it still should give us pause. If some social phenomena existed that were of the form most prevalent in physics, then the quantitative methods currently dominant in social sciences might not suffice to discover them.Less
When a number of social scientists were given synthetic data that fitted the universal law of gravitation, they all missed the underlying pattern. Yet they found results satisfactory and complete by the current social science norms: high R 2, degree of significance of input factors, and the direction of their impact. The design of this experiment can be criticized, but it still should give us pause. If some social phenomena existed that were of the form most prevalent in physics, then the quantitative methods currently dominant in social sciences might not suffice to discover them.
Colin Crouch
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199250158
- eISBN:
- 9780191599439
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199250154.003.0012
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
Organizations representing economic interests within individual nation states peaked in both social importance and academic interest during the 1970s and 1980s. It is often argued that since then ...
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Organizations representing economic interests within individual nation states peaked in both social importance and academic interest during the 1970s and 1980s. It is often argued that since then they have declined in significance. There are four reasons for this: increasing economic globalization, the dominance of neo–liberal economic ideology, the rise of the individual enterprise, and the challenge of various non–functional (non–producer) interests. This chapter assesses the significance of each of these, paying attention to both general or convergent trends and to those that suggest differences of national experience among European countries. The range of organizations included in the discussion are first established, and the four types of interest relationships (contestation, pluralism, bargained corporatism and authoritarian corporatism) between the organizations and their members and those with whom they deal are identified.Less
Organizations representing economic interests within individual nation states peaked in both social importance and academic interest during the 1970s and 1980s. It is often argued that since then they have declined in significance. There are four reasons for this: increasing economic globalization, the dominance of neo–liberal economic ideology, the rise of the individual enterprise, and the challenge of various non–functional (non–producer) interests. This chapter assesses the significance of each of these, paying attention to both general or convergent trends and to those that suggest differences of national experience among European countries. The range of organizations included in the discussion are first established, and the four types of interest relationships (contestation, pluralism, bargained corporatism and authoritarian corporatism) between the organizations and their members and those with whom they deal are identified.
James Griffin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242689
- eISBN:
- 9780191598715
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199242682.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Based upon an analysis of the development of the human rights tradition, the language of human rights is best reserved for beings capable of agency. Less restrictive conceptions of rights, such as ...
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Based upon an analysis of the development of the human rights tradition, the language of human rights is best reserved for beings capable of agency. Less restrictive conceptions of rights, such as those that link rights to the protection of needs, leads to a proliferation of rights of a kind that dilutes the normative importance of rights. Denying that infants have rights need not diminish the moral significance of their claims to care. The absence of a right need not signal diminished moral importance.Less
Based upon an analysis of the development of the human rights tradition, the language of human rights is best reserved for beings capable of agency. Less restrictive conceptions of rights, such as those that link rights to the protection of needs, leads to a proliferation of rights of a kind that dilutes the normative importance of rights. Denying that infants have rights need not diminish the moral significance of their claims to care. The absence of a right need not signal diminished moral importance.
Stephen Day and Jo Shaw
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199257409
- eISBN:
- 9780191600951
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925740X.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
Examines the constitutionalization of transnational political parties in the EU, with particular attention to the question of whether this new organizational form (federations of national parties) ...
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Examines the constitutionalization of transnational political parties in the EU, with particular attention to the question of whether this new organizational form (federations of national parties) brings openness to an EU that should be closer to the citizen. The discussion is with respect to the five existing Euro‐parties: The European People's Party; the Party of European Socialists; the European Liberal, Democrat, and Reform Party; the European Federation of Greens; and the Democratic Party of the Peoples of Europe/European Free Alliance. Explores both the emergence of Euro‐parties focussing on the inclusion of new political rights provisions in the 2003 Treaty of Nice and the internal and external identity of Euro‐parties. Day and Shaw link the normative aspirations embodied in the Treaty to the real‐world significance of transnational political parties, both as the key link for citizens to EU politics and for their role within the wider process of European integration and expansion. The four sections of the chapter are: Introduction; European Parties in an Era of European Citizenship—a review of the context for the development of the Euro‐party as an organizational form in the 1990s and early 2000s; The Identity and Nature of Euro‐Parties—types and self‐presentation, and the extent of the real‐world significance of Euro‐parties as potential representative entities of European citizens and their role within the wider process of future European integration; and Conclusion.Less
Examines the constitutionalization of transnational political parties in the EU, with particular attention to the question of whether this new organizational form (federations of national parties) brings openness to an EU that should be closer to the citizen. The discussion is with respect to the five existing Euro‐parties: The European People's Party; the Party of European Socialists; the European Liberal, Democrat, and Reform Party; the European Federation of Greens; and the Democratic Party of the Peoples of Europe/European Free Alliance. Explores both the emergence of Euro‐parties focussing on the inclusion of new political rights provisions in the 2003 Treaty of Nice and the internal and external identity of Euro‐parties. Day and Shaw link the normative aspirations embodied in the Treaty to the real‐world significance of transnational political parties, both as the key link for citizens to EU politics and for their role within the wider process of European integration and expansion. The four sections of the chapter are: Introduction; European Parties in an Era of European Citizenship—a review of the context for the development of the Euro‐party as an organizational form in the 1990s and early 2000s; The Identity and Nature of Euro‐Parties—types and self‐presentation, and the extent of the real‐world significance of Euro‐parties as potential representative entities of European citizens and their role within the wider process of future European integration; and Conclusion.
Joseph Roisman
Jeffrey Corbin and Carla D'Antonio (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520247871
- eISBN:
- 9780520932913
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520247871.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
The Attic orators, whose works are an invaluable source on the social and political history of Classical Athens, often filled their speeches with charges of conspiracy involving almost every facet of ...
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The Attic orators, whose works are an invaluable source on the social and political history of Classical Athens, often filled their speeches with charges of conspiracy involving almost every facet of Athenian life. There are allegations of plots against men's lives, property, careers, and reputations, as well as charges of conspiracy against the public interest, the government, the management of foreign affairs, and more. Until now, however, this obsession with conspiracy has received little scholarly attention. In order to develop the first full picture of this important feature of Athenian discourse, this book examines the range and nature of the conspiracy charges. The author asks why they were so popular, and considers their rhetorical, cultural, and psychological significance. He also investigates the historical likelihood of the scenarios advanced for these plots, and asks what their prevalence suggests about the Athenians and their worldview. The author concludes by comparing ancient and modern conspiracy theories. In addition to shedding new light on Athenian history and culture, his study provides a perspective on the use of conspiracy as a rhetorical ploy.Less
The Attic orators, whose works are an invaluable source on the social and political history of Classical Athens, often filled their speeches with charges of conspiracy involving almost every facet of Athenian life. There are allegations of plots against men's lives, property, careers, and reputations, as well as charges of conspiracy against the public interest, the government, the management of foreign affairs, and more. Until now, however, this obsession with conspiracy has received little scholarly attention. In order to develop the first full picture of this important feature of Athenian discourse, this book examines the range and nature of the conspiracy charges. The author asks why they were so popular, and considers their rhetorical, cultural, and psychological significance. He also investigates the historical likelihood of the scenarios advanced for these plots, and asks what their prevalence suggests about the Athenians and their worldview. The author concludes by comparing ancient and modern conspiracy theories. In addition to shedding new light on Athenian history and culture, his study provides a perspective on the use of conspiracy as a rhetorical ploy.
Theodore M. Porter
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199546350
- eISBN:
- 9780191720048
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546350.003.0014
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
The standing of accounting among the academic disciplines has never been very high, in part because the work of accounting is not regarded as suitably creative. Yet when we think of knowledge as a ...
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The standing of accounting among the academic disciplines has never been very high, in part because the work of accounting is not regarded as suitably creative. Yet when we think of knowledge as a set of institutionalized practices, the subservience of accounting to the sciences and to the ancient professions may be reversed. Fields like economics, engineering, biology, and medicine cannot escape the twin imperatives of commensuration and accountability, especially when these are brought to bear on matters of recognized public importance. In this regard, the career of cost-benefit quantification is exemplary. Knowledge and rationality, whenever they touch on politics and policy, have become closely bound up with a logic of accountancy.Less
The standing of accounting among the academic disciplines has never been very high, in part because the work of accounting is not regarded as suitably creative. Yet when we think of knowledge as a set of institutionalized practices, the subservience of accounting to the sciences and to the ancient professions may be reversed. Fields like economics, engineering, biology, and medicine cannot escape the twin imperatives of commensuration and accountability, especially when these are brought to bear on matters of recognized public importance. In this regard, the career of cost-benefit quantification is exemplary. Knowledge and rationality, whenever they touch on politics and policy, have become closely bound up with a logic of accountancy.
Marian Stamp Dawkins
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198569350
- eISBN:
- 9780191717512
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198569350.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
Although detailed statistical analyses are beyond the scope of this book, there are some important general principles about organizing and analyzing data. Hypotheses have to be phrased in such a way ...
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Although detailed statistical analyses are beyond the scope of this book, there are some important general principles about organizing and analyzing data. Hypotheses have to be phrased in such a way that they can be tested and a level of ‘significance’ set for the outcome. This chapter presents a brief review of the most frequently used statistical tests that are available, including a discussion of parametric and non-parametric tests. The presentation of results and writing the project report or paper is an important part of any project.Less
Although detailed statistical analyses are beyond the scope of this book, there are some important general principles about organizing and analyzing data. Hypotheses have to be phrased in such a way that they can be tested and a level of ‘significance’ set for the outcome. This chapter presents a brief review of the most frequently used statistical tests that are available, including a discussion of parametric and non-parametric tests. The presentation of results and writing the project report or paper is an important part of any project.
Nicola Casarini
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560073
- eISBN:
- 9780191721168
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560073.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Relations between the European Union (EU) and China have grown at a sustained pace across the board in recent times, transforming the relationship from one of previous neglect into a matter of global ...
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Relations between the European Union (EU) and China have grown at a sustained pace across the board in recent times, transforming the relationship from one of previous neglect into a matter of global strategic significance. This book offers an examination of the evolution of contemporary EU—China relations in the economic, technological, and high politics dimensions, including implications of the high‐tech and security‐related elements of the relationship (space and satellite navigation cooperation; advanced technology transfers; arms sales, including the proposal to lift the EU arms embargo on China) for the United States and its East Asian allies. The analysis of EU—China relations is placed in the context of evolving dynamics in transatlantic relations on the one hand, and East Asia's major powers' changing security perceptions on the other. With this approach, this study intends to provide the reader with a better understanding of the global significance acquired by Sino—European relations, while also raising the question as to whether, and to what extent, the promotion of EU space and defence interests in China has made the EU a novel strategic factor in East Asia. This book contributes to current debates on the emerging global order, including discussions of how European and Chinese policy makers would perceive the post‐Cold War international system, evaluate the place and role of their countries in it, and appraise the policies to be adopted to maintain global competitiveness in key strategic industrial sectors and increase political autonomy in an international environment characterized by US primacy.Less
Relations between the European Union (EU) and China have grown at a sustained pace across the board in recent times, transforming the relationship from one of previous neglect into a matter of global strategic significance. This book offers an examination of the evolution of contemporary EU—China relations in the economic, technological, and high politics dimensions, including implications of the high‐tech and security‐related elements of the relationship (space and satellite navigation cooperation; advanced technology transfers; arms sales, including the proposal to lift the EU arms embargo on China) for the United States and its East Asian allies. The analysis of EU—China relations is placed in the context of evolving dynamics in transatlantic relations on the one hand, and East Asia's major powers' changing security perceptions on the other. With this approach, this study intends to provide the reader with a better understanding of the global significance acquired by Sino—European relations, while also raising the question as to whether, and to what extent, the promotion of EU space and defence interests in China has made the EU a novel strategic factor in East Asia. This book contributes to current debates on the emerging global order, including discussions of how European and Chinese policy makers would perceive the post‐Cold War international system, evaluate the place and role of their countries in it, and appraise the policies to be adopted to maintain global competitiveness in key strategic industrial sectors and increase political autonomy in an international environment characterized by US primacy.
John C. Avise
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369670
- eISBN:
- 9780199871063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369670.003.0002
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Sexual reproduction is the antithesis of clonality because genes that are faithfully copied during asexual replication are genetically scrambled (recombined) during the sexual processes of meiosis ...
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Sexual reproduction is the antithesis of clonality because genes that are faithfully copied during asexual replication are genetically scrambled (recombined) during the sexual processes of meiosis and fertilization. Sex has long been an evolutionary enigma because it appears at face value to entail several fitness costs and risks in the short term whereas its potential benefits would seem to be rather diffuse and postponed. This chapter reviews the diverse explanations for recombinational sex, ranging from the level of molecular genetics to the echelons of short-term ecology and long-term evolution. It thus sets the stage for the book's extended thesis that any attempt to understand the adaptive significance of sex is likely to be facilitated by analyzing clonal systems, and vice versa.Less
Sexual reproduction is the antithesis of clonality because genes that are faithfully copied during asexual replication are genetically scrambled (recombined) during the sexual processes of meiosis and fertilization. Sex has long been an evolutionary enigma because it appears at face value to entail several fitness costs and risks in the short term whereas its potential benefits would seem to be rather diffuse and postponed. This chapter reviews the diverse explanations for recombinational sex, ranging from the level of molecular genetics to the echelons of short-term ecology and long-term evolution. It thus sets the stage for the book's extended thesis that any attempt to understand the adaptive significance of sex is likely to be facilitated by analyzing clonal systems, and vice versa.
Robert C. Roberts and W. Jay Wood
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199283675
- eISBN:
- 9780191712661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283675.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
A background of all the other intellectual virtues is an epistemically right orientation of the will: a discriminating concern for propositional knowledge, understanding, and acquaintance. The ...
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A background of all the other intellectual virtues is an epistemically right orientation of the will: a discriminating concern for propositional knowledge, understanding, and acquaintance. The standards of discrimination here are significance, relevance, and worthiness. Worthiness of knowledge is sometimes parasitic on ‘practical’ concerns, and sometimes is determined by the intrinsic value of the object of knowledge. The virtue under discussion is not only a concern to have knowledge, but also a concern to purvey it to others; thus it includes truthfulness and epistemic philanthropy. The chapter examines various forms of faulty epistemic will: failure of concern to know, unvirtuous concerns to know, failures of concern not to know, and unvirtuous concerns not to know. It ends with comments on how the particular structure that one attributes to a virtue of the love of knowledge varies with metaphysical beliefs.Less
A background of all the other intellectual virtues is an epistemically right orientation of the will: a discriminating concern for propositional knowledge, understanding, and acquaintance. The standards of discrimination here are significance, relevance, and worthiness. Worthiness of knowledge is sometimes parasitic on ‘practical’ concerns, and sometimes is determined by the intrinsic value of the object of knowledge. The virtue under discussion is not only a concern to have knowledge, but also a concern to purvey it to others; thus it includes truthfulness and epistemic philanthropy. The chapter examines various forms of faulty epistemic will: failure of concern to know, unvirtuous concerns to know, failures of concern not to know, and unvirtuous concerns not to know. It ends with comments on how the particular structure that one attributes to a virtue of the love of knowledge varies with metaphysical beliefs.
Philip Kitcher and Richard Schacht
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195183603
- eISBN:
- 9780199850457
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195183603.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
Few musical works loom as large in Western culture as Richard Wagner’s four-part Ring of the Nibelung. This book offers an illuminating look at this greatest of Wagner’s achievements, focusing on its ...
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Few musical works loom as large in Western culture as Richard Wagner’s four-part Ring of the Nibelung. This book offers an illuminating look at this greatest of Wagner’s achievements, focusing on its far-reaching and subtle exploration of problems of meanings and endings in this life and world. The book draws out the philosophical and human significance of the text and the music. It shows how different forms of love, freedom, heroism, authority, and judgment are explored and tested as it unfolds. As it journeys across its sweeping musical-dramatic landscape, the book leads us to the central concern of the Ring—the problem of endowing life with genuine significance that can be enhanced rather than negated by its ending, if the right sort of ending can be found. The drama originates in Wotan’s quest for a transformation of the primordial state of things into a world in which life can be lived more meaningfully. The book traces the evolution of Wotan’s efforts, the intricate problems he confronts, and his failures and defeats. But while the problem Wotan poses for himself proves to be insoluble as he conceives of it, it suggests that his very efforts and failures set the stage for the transformation of his problem, and for the only sort of resolution of it that may be humanly possible—to which it is not Siegfried but rather Brünnhilde who shows the way. The Ring’s ending, with its passing of the gods above and destruction of the world below, might seem to be devastating; but this book sees a kind of meaning in and through the ending revealed to us that is profoundly affirmative.Less
Few musical works loom as large in Western culture as Richard Wagner’s four-part Ring of the Nibelung. This book offers an illuminating look at this greatest of Wagner’s achievements, focusing on its far-reaching and subtle exploration of problems of meanings and endings in this life and world. The book draws out the philosophical and human significance of the text and the music. It shows how different forms of love, freedom, heroism, authority, and judgment are explored and tested as it unfolds. As it journeys across its sweeping musical-dramatic landscape, the book leads us to the central concern of the Ring—the problem of endowing life with genuine significance that can be enhanced rather than negated by its ending, if the right sort of ending can be found. The drama originates in Wotan’s quest for a transformation of the primordial state of things into a world in which life can be lived more meaningfully. The book traces the evolution of Wotan’s efforts, the intricate problems he confronts, and his failures and defeats. But while the problem Wotan poses for himself proves to be insoluble as he conceives of it, it suggests that his very efforts and failures set the stage for the transformation of his problem, and for the only sort of resolution of it that may be humanly possible—to which it is not Siegfried but rather Brünnhilde who shows the way. The Ring’s ending, with its passing of the gods above and destruction of the world below, might seem to be devastating; but this book sees a kind of meaning in and through the ending revealed to us that is profoundly affirmative.
Daphne J. Fairbairn, Wolf U. Blanckenhorn, and Tamás Székely (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199208784
- eISBN:
- 9780191709036
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208784.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
This book is an edited compendium of twenty chapters addressing the evolution, adaptive significance, and genetic and developmental basis of differences between the sexes in body size and morphology. ...
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This book is an edited compendium of twenty chapters addressing the evolution, adaptive significance, and genetic and developmental basis of differences between the sexes in body size and morphology. General concepts and methodologies are introduced in Chapter 1, which also includes an overview of variation in sexual size dimorphism (SSD) with emphasis on extreme dimorphisms (i.e., dwarf males) and taxa not covered in subsequent chapters. Chapters 2-7 present new, comprehensive, comparative analyses of broad-scale patterns of SSD in mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, spiders, and insects, respectively. Chapters 8-15 comprise case studies of SSD within species or groups of closely related species. Flowering plants, insects, lizards, birds, and mammals are represented in this section. Chapters 16-20 emphasize proximate mechanisms underlying SSD and include theoretical explorations of anisogamy, genomic conflict, genomic imprinting, sex-linkage, and sex-specific gene expression, as well as experimental studies of sex-specific patterns of growth and development. Throughout the book, the emphasis is on testing hypotheses concerning the evolution and adaptive significance of SSD, and the importance of sexual selection on male size emerges as a common theme. However, this adaptationist approach is balanced by studies of proximate genetic, developmental, and physiological processes.Less
This book is an edited compendium of twenty chapters addressing the evolution, adaptive significance, and genetic and developmental basis of differences between the sexes in body size and morphology. General concepts and methodologies are introduced in Chapter 1, which also includes an overview of variation in sexual size dimorphism (SSD) with emphasis on extreme dimorphisms (i.e., dwarf males) and taxa not covered in subsequent chapters. Chapters 2-7 present new, comprehensive, comparative analyses of broad-scale patterns of SSD in mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, spiders, and insects, respectively. Chapters 8-15 comprise case studies of SSD within species or groups of closely related species. Flowering plants, insects, lizards, birds, and mammals are represented in this section. Chapters 16-20 emphasize proximate mechanisms underlying SSD and include theoretical explorations of anisogamy, genomic conflict, genomic imprinting, sex-linkage, and sex-specific gene expression, as well as experimental studies of sex-specific patterns of growth and development. Throughout the book, the emphasis is on testing hypotheses concerning the evolution and adaptive significance of SSD, and the importance of sexual selection on male size emerges as a common theme. However, this adaptationist approach is balanced by studies of proximate genetic, developmental, and physiological processes.
A. Townsend Peterson, Jorge Soberón, Richard G. Pearson, Robert P. Anderson, Enrique Martínez-Meyer, Miguel Nakamura, and Miguel Bastos Araújo
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691136868
- eISBN:
- 9781400840670
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691136868.003.0009
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This chapter describes a framework for selecting appropriate strategies for evaluating model performance and significance. It begins with a review of key concepts, focusing on how primary occurrence ...
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This chapter describes a framework for selecting appropriate strategies for evaluating model performance and significance. It begins with a review of key concepts, focusing on how primary occurrence data can be presence-only, presence/background, presence/pseudoabsence, or presence/absence as well as factors that may contribute to apparent commission error. It then considers the availability of two pools of occurrence data: one for model calibration and another for evaluation of model predictions. It also discusses strategies for detecting overfitting or sensitivity to bias in model calibration, with particular emphasis on quantification of performance and tests of significance. Finally, it suggests directions for future research as regards model evaluation, highlighting areas in need of theoretical and/or methodological advances.Less
This chapter describes a framework for selecting appropriate strategies for evaluating model performance and significance. It begins with a review of key concepts, focusing on how primary occurrence data can be presence-only, presence/background, presence/pseudoabsence, or presence/absence as well as factors that may contribute to apparent commission error. It then considers the availability of two pools of occurrence data: one for model calibration and another for evaluation of model predictions. It also discusses strategies for detecting overfitting or sensitivity to bias in model calibration, with particular emphasis on quantification of performance and tests of significance. Finally, it suggests directions for future research as regards model evaluation, highlighting areas in need of theoretical and/or methodological advances.
Ezra Susser, Sharon Schwartz, Alfredo Morabia, and Evelyn J. Bromet
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195101812
- eISBN:
- 9780199864096
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195101812.003.23
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
Statistical significance testing can be viewed as a formal method for assessing the evidence with regard to a scientific conjecture. It reflects the degree to which we can be confident that an ...
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Statistical significance testing can be viewed as a formal method for assessing the evidence with regard to a scientific conjecture. It reflects the degree to which we can be confident that an association observed in the study sample is also present in the target population. Significance tests play a central role in psychiatric epidemiology, and in fact across the full gamut of human research. Given the omnipresence of statistical significance tests, it is essential for all investigators to understand the principles behind these tests and guidelines for their interpretation. This chapter provides this background and makes recommendations for sensible evaluation of test results.Less
Statistical significance testing can be viewed as a formal method for assessing the evidence with regard to a scientific conjecture. It reflects the degree to which we can be confident that an association observed in the study sample is also present in the target population. Significance tests play a central role in psychiatric epidemiology, and in fact across the full gamut of human research. Given the omnipresence of statistical significance tests, it is essential for all investigators to understand the principles behind these tests and guidelines for their interpretation. This chapter provides this background and makes recommendations for sensible evaluation of test results.
Daphne J. Fairbairn
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199208784
- eISBN:
- 9780191709036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208784.003.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
This introductory chapter opens by describing general patterns of variation in sexual size dimorphism (SSD), with emphasis on several taxa (plants, fishes, and aquatic invertebrates) not included in ...
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This introductory chapter opens by describing general patterns of variation in sexual size dimorphism (SSD), with emphasis on several taxa (plants, fishes, and aquatic invertebrates) not included in the survey chapters that follow. It also highlights recently documented examples of extreme SSD, such as Lamprologus callipterus, a shell-brooding cichlid fish, where males are >12 times heavier than females, and the blanket octopus (Tremoctopus violaceous), where females can be 40,000 times larger than the dwarf males. The chapter then develops the two major integrative themes of the book: discovering the adaptive significance of SSD and determining the importance of genetic constraints in shaping its evolution. After briefly summarizing the contributions of the chapters to these themes, the chapter closes by discussing methodological difficulties associated with estimating adult body size and SSD in natural populations.Less
This introductory chapter opens by describing general patterns of variation in sexual size dimorphism (SSD), with emphasis on several taxa (plants, fishes, and aquatic invertebrates) not included in the survey chapters that follow. It also highlights recently documented examples of extreme SSD, such as Lamprologus callipterus, a shell-brooding cichlid fish, where males are >12 times heavier than females, and the blanket octopus (Tremoctopus violaceous), where females can be 40,000 times larger than the dwarf males. The chapter then develops the two major integrative themes of the book: discovering the adaptive significance of SSD and determining the importance of genetic constraints in shaping its evolution. After briefly summarizing the contributions of the chapters to these themes, the chapter closes by discussing methodological difficulties associated with estimating adult body size and SSD in natural populations.
Phyllis Mauch Messenger and George S. Smith (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813034607
- eISBN:
- 9780813039510
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034607.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Methodology and Techniques
Even as places and objects that have particular cultural significance are increasingly valued in our global world, powerful forces threaten them with destruction. This book discusses the efforts of a ...
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Even as places and objects that have particular cultural significance are increasingly valued in our global world, powerful forces threaten them with destruction. This book discusses the efforts of a broad range of specialists devoted to safeguarding our cultural heritage. The book brings together an international group of scholars, featuring archaeologists, anthropologists, development specialists, and others engaged in the study, management, protection, and interpretation of places and objects that represent histories, traditions, and cultural identities. From international law to artifact preservation to site interpretation, there is a wide variety of approaches to the management of our cultural heritage. Combining the voices of scholars and practitioners, the book provides a diversity of voices and perspectives from people steeped in the issues that directly affect the future or the past.Less
Even as places and objects that have particular cultural significance are increasingly valued in our global world, powerful forces threaten them with destruction. This book discusses the efforts of a broad range of specialists devoted to safeguarding our cultural heritage. The book brings together an international group of scholars, featuring archaeologists, anthropologists, development specialists, and others engaged in the study, management, protection, and interpretation of places and objects that represent histories, traditions, and cultural identities. From international law to artifact preservation to site interpretation, there is a wide variety of approaches to the management of our cultural heritage. Combining the voices of scholars and practitioners, the book provides a diversity of voices and perspectives from people steeped in the issues that directly affect the future or the past.
Daphne J. Fairbairn
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199208784
- eISBN:
- 9780191709036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208784.003.0011
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
This chapter describes a series of studies examining the adaptive significance of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in the water strider, Aquarius remigis. The data reveal that SSD is negligible until the ...
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This chapter describes a series of studies examining the adaptive significance of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in the water strider, Aquarius remigis. The data reveal that SSD is negligible until the adult stage, and there is no evidence of sexual bimaturation, ecological niche divergence, or sex-specific selection prior to reproductive maturity. However, once maturity is reached, sexual selection favours longer genitalia but smaller soma in males, fecundity selection favors longer abdomens in females, and longevity selection favours smaller size in both sexes. These patterns lead to net stabilizing selection with both sexes near their optimal sizes. Patterns of genetic correlations indicate that the genetic architecture has evolved in response to this sex-specific selection, and would facilitate rapid response of SSD to changing patterns of selection. This may explain why SSD can be close to equilibrium in local populations in spite of strong between-sex genetic correlations for overall size.Less
This chapter describes a series of studies examining the adaptive significance of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in the water strider, Aquarius remigis. The data reveal that SSD is negligible until the adult stage, and there is no evidence of sexual bimaturation, ecological niche divergence, or sex-specific selection prior to reproductive maturity. However, once maturity is reached, sexual selection favours longer genitalia but smaller soma in males, fecundity selection favors longer abdomens in females, and longevity selection favours smaller size in both sexes. These patterns lead to net stabilizing selection with both sexes near their optimal sizes. Patterns of genetic correlations indicate that the genetic architecture has evolved in response to this sex-specific selection, and would facilitate rapid response of SSD to changing patterns of selection. This may explain why SSD can be close to equilibrium in local populations in spite of strong between-sex genetic correlations for overall size.
