The status of variable rules in sociolinguistic theory1

1981 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Romaine
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Philosophical Analysis ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Comprehensive Theory ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Universe

INTRODUCTION In a recent paper, Botha (1976) suggests that the analysis of linguistic argumentation is a ‘non-normal’ thing for linguists to do. ‘Normally’, he maintains, ‘linguists are oriented towards uncovering the nature of human language, and not the nature of linguistic science.’ Botha (1976: 3) even goes so far as to claim that the analysis of a form of argumentation is not a sort of linguistic analysis; it is instead a form of philosophical analysis. Some philosophers would probably disagree here with Botha and say that philosophical analysis is a sort of linguistic analysis. I am thinking here of Wittgenstein, for example, and the so-called philosophers of language who accept the view that the business of philosophy is to deal with the question of how words mean what they mean, etc., rather than to offer a comprehensive theory of the universe. It is difficult to draw a line of demarcation between a discipline proper and the study of the methodological underpinnings of that discipline, which I am not sure is essential anyway. My point is that a certain amount of self-criticism and awareness of the status of theoretical concepts and arguments can do linguists no harm.

Remembering From-the-Outside

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher McCarroll
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Philosophical Analysis ◽  
Visual Perspective ◽  
Observer Perspective ◽  
The Status ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Way Of Thinking

This chapter sets out some key issues related to a philosophical analysis of point of view in memory. It does so by looking at examples of psychological, philosophical, and literary accounts of the phenomenon, as well as examples of the author’s own observer perspective memories. The chapter provides an overview of some of the empirical evidence related to visual perspective in memory. Despite these consistent empirical findings, however, a number of doubts and misconceptions about remembering from-the-outside still linger, especially concerning the status of observer perspectives in memory. This chapter outlines some of the skepticism to the possibility of remembering from-the-outside and points to a possible diagnosis of why such skepticism arises. This chapter points to a way of thinking about memory—to be developed through the course of the book—which eases the worries about remembering from-the-outside.

scholarly journals Taxonomy of Dark Energy Models

Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Verónica Motta ◽  
Miguel A. García-Aspeitia ◽  
Alberto Hernández-Almada ◽  
Juan Magaña ◽  
Tomás Verdugo
Keyword(s):  
Dark Energy ◽  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Accelerated Expansion ◽  
Energy Component ◽  
The Past ◽  
Energy Models ◽  
The Status ◽  
Expansion Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Unknown Component

The accelerated expansion of the Universe is one of the main discoveries of the past decades, indicating the presence of an unknown component: the dark energy. Evidence of its presence is being gathered by a succession of observational experiments with increasing precision in its measurements. However, the most accepted model for explaining the dynamic of our Universe, the so-called Lambda cold dark matter, faces several problems related to the nature of such energy component. This has led to a growing exploration of alternative models attempting to solve those drawbacks. In this review, we briefly summarize the characteristics of a (non-exhaustive) list of dark energy models as well as some of the most used cosmological samples. Next, we discuss how to constrain each model’s parameters using observational data. Finally, we summarize the status of dark energy modeling.

scholarly journals The Discarded Image and the Debunked Tao: Objective Value in C.S. Lewis’ Medieval Model and His Critique of Modernity †

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 597
Author(s):  
Yuxiao Su
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Moral Relativism ◽  
First Century ◽  
Parallel Study ◽  
The Status ◽  
Implicit Belief ◽  
Objective Value ◽  
Medieval Model ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Spiritual Resource

This paper considers C.S. Lewis’ “doctrine of objective value” in two of his major works, The Abolition of Man and The Discarded Image. Lewis uses the Chinese name Tao, albeit with an incomplete understanding of its origins, for the objective worldview. The paper argues that Tao, as an explicit theme of The Abolition of Man, is also a determining undercurrent in The Discarded Image. In the former work, Tao is what Lewis wants to defend and restore against twentieth-century secular ideologies, which Lewis condemns as infected with “the poison of subjectivism”. In the latter work, where Lewis presents one of the best accounts of the European medieval model of the Universe, objective value (the Tao in Lewis’ argument) underlies both how the model has been shaped, and how Lewis, as a medievalist, accounts for and draws upon it as an intellectual and spiritual resource. The purpose of this parallel study is to show that Lewis’ explication of the Tao in The Abolition of Man, which is a “built-in”, implicit belief in The Discarded Image, provides a critique of tendencies towards the subjectivism prevalent in Lewis’ lifetime. These tendencies can be traced into the moral relativism, pluralism and reductionism of the twenty-first century, giving Lewis’ work the status of twentieth-century prophecy.

scholarly journals INTER-RELATIONS BETWEEN JET BEHAVIOR AND HYDRAULIC PROCESSES OBSERVED AT DELTAIC RIVER MOUTHS AND TIDAL INLETS

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Charles G. Bates ◽  
John C. Freeman, Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Measurement ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Tidal Inlets ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Comprehensive Theory ◽  
Delta Formation ◽  
Jet Behavior ◽  
River Mouths ◽  
Hydraulic Processes

Price (1951) has stated: "(in) geological oceanography as practiced today there is constant emphasis on quantitative measurement and quantitative theoretical development." As a demonstration of this geophysical approach to geological problems the authors have studied the theory of processes involved when sediment-laden water flows into a currentless, tideless, wave-free basin. The theoretical concepts developed have then been tested against the actual occurrences in nature. The result is that it is possible to propose a comprehensive theory of delta formation which may explain many of the features observed near mouths of rivers. According to this theory, there are three distinct and basic types of river inflow into a still basin, as shown in Figure 1:

scholarly journals The little sibling of the big rip singularity

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 1550078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam Bouhmadi-López ◽  
Ahmed Errahmani ◽  
Prado Martín-Moruno ◽  
Taoufik Ouali ◽  
Yaser Tavakoli
Keyword(s):  
Blow Up ◽  
Energy Condition ◽  
Cosmic Time ◽  
Energy Conditions ◽  
Accelerating Universe ◽  
Hubble Rate ◽  
Big Rip ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Nonlinear Energy

In this paper, we present a new cosmological event, which we named the little sibling of the big rip. This event is much smoother than the big rip singularity. When the little sibling of the big rip is reached, the Hubble rate and the scale factor blow up, but the cosmic derivative of the Hubble rate does not. This abrupt event takes place at an infinite cosmic time where the scalar curvature explodes. We show that a doomsday à la little sibling of the big rip is compatible with an accelerating universe, indeed at present it would mimic perfectly a ΛCDM scenario. It turns out that, even though the event seems to be harmless as it takes place in the infinite future, the bound structures in the universe would be unavoidably destroyed on a finite cosmic time from now. The model can be motivated by considering that the weak energy condition should not be strongly violated in our universe, and it could give us some hints about the status of recently formulated nonlinear energy conditions.

scholarly journals Quasi-monolithic mirror suspensions in ground-based gravitational-wave detectors: an overview and look to the future

2018 ◽  
Vol 376 (2120) ◽  
pp. 20170281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Maria A. van Veggel
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Wave ◽  
Seismic Isolation ◽  
Thermal Noise ◽  
Fused Silica ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Future ◽  
Gravitational Wave Detectors ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Universe

At the commencement of a new era in astrophysics, with added information from direct detections of gravitational-wave (GW) signals, this paper is a testament to the quasi-monolithic suspensions of the test masses of the GW detectors that have enabled the opening of a new window on the universe. The quasi-monolithic suspensions are the final stages in the seismic isolation of the test masses in GW detectors, and are specifically designed to introduce as little thermal noise as possible. The history of the development of the fused-silica quasi-monolithic suspensions, which have been so essential for the first detections of GWs, is outlined and a glimpse into the status of research towards quasi-monolithic suspensions made of sapphire and silicon is given. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The promises of gravitational-wave astronomy’.

Hamlet as Philosopher

2020 ◽  
pp. 238-303
Author(s):  
Rhodri Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
William Shakespeare ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Universe

This chapter assesses Hamlet's reason and his accomplishments as a philosopher. It outlines the rudiments of philosophy as the early moderns understood it, before establishing a dialogue between these models of philosophy and the text of Hamlet. In and through the figure of Hamlet, William Shakespeare exposes not only the limitations of humanist philosophy but the inadequacy of most attempts to supplant it at the cusp of the seventeenth century. The chapter then examines Hamlet's efforts to understand the nature of the universe to which he belongs, the status of humankind within it, and the nature of being. After probing Hamlet's deliberations on vengeance, it follows his turn towards questions of religion and of theology, and especially towards those of providence. One of the many remarkable features of Hamlet's attachment to providence is that he takes it not to be the harmonious but largely inscrutable force through which the universe was created and now operates, but as something to be invoked and appropriated in service of his moral deliberations.

Obvious and Improbable in Kuhnian Normal Science

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-161
Author(s):  
Alexander M. Dorozhkin ◽  
Anna V. Sakharova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
The State ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Thomas Kuhn ◽  
Normal Science ◽  
Complete Replacement ◽  
Language Of Science ◽  
Trading Zones ◽  
The Status

The article is devoted to the analysis of some specific characteristics of the language of normal science described by Thomas Kuhn. We would like to draw attention to two problems associated with some features of the concept of paradigms. The first problem relates to the question, how scientists belonging to one paradigm record the position of a group of scientists adhering to another paradigm. Precisely, the article examines how the problem of “synchronous fragmentation of knowledge” is solved in the language of science. The second issue concerns the age of “normal” knowledge and the question, how the anomalous content of knowledge can appear and accumulate, and what is the status of scientists developing the “anomalous” knowledge. We reveal some possible parameters by which we can determine the early stage of the functioning of normal science, the periods of its heyday and decline. In this article, we try to find an approach to these problems by examining the natural language of scientists, using techniques of content analysis, as well as complex linguistic analysis, including discursive, semantic and pragmatic components. Linguistic analysis can’t finally solve the problems of philosophical analysis of scientific knowledge, in particular, the state of the paradigm concept by Thomas Kuhn. But it helps us to identify the boundaries of paradigms, as well as the state of normal knowledge. The problem of fragmentation of knowledge by paradigms, as well as the problem of “aging” of knowledge inside a “normal science” are not directly expressed by scientists. But they can be recorded by analysis of everyday language, which often becomes entangled with the language of science. The high rate of words that semantically indicate the “obvious” knowledge in scientific texts points to a “good” state of the paradigm. And vice versa, the words denoting “improbable” indirectly indicate its crisis state or express an attitude to the knowledge belonging to a different paradigm. The analysis of the data shows that the alleged complete replacement of Kuhn's concept of a paradigm by the concept of “trading zones” by Peter Galison does not appear to be accomplished. Just as the concept of scientific paradigm did not completely replace the falsificationalism, the Galison’s “trading zones” do not fully reflect the real state of affairs in science. Therefore, the Kuhnian paradigms are recorded at the lexical level in the communication of scientists.

‘The Being That is in a Manner Equal With God’ (PHIL. 2:6C): A Self-Transforming, Incarnational, Divine Ontology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crispin Fletcher-Louis
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Homeric Hymns ◽  
The Status ◽  
Mode Of Being ◽  
Being And Becoming

Abstract This article challenges the consensus that τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ (Phil. 2:6c) means ‘equality with God’ and denotes a status. Linguistic analysis, contextual considerations, and a thorough investigation of an inventory of 149 extant Greek references to divine equality (ἴσος /ἴσα + θεός) show that Phil. 2:6c means ‘being (that is) in a manner equal with God’. Although it evokes well-known language for the status of rulers who received ‘honours equal to the gods’, it has a distinct, rarely attested, but Homeric syntax (cf. Iliad 5:441–2; 21:315), for which the closest parallel is Homeric Hymns 5, line 214. As such, it denotes a dynamic ontology, a mode of being expressed, or actualized, in Christ’s incarnational self-transformation (vv. 7–8). The words also serve a creative affirmation and subversion of the middle Platonic distinction between ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ (as that was expressed in Plutarch and Philo): Christ exists and acts from ‘being’ (ὑπάρχων … τὸ εἶναι v. 6) and is misperceived in the realm of ‘becoming’ (γενόμενος … γενόμενος vv. 7–8). But, against the Platonists, he has a divine ‘being’ that ‘becomes’.

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