The pragmatics of ritual

Pragmatics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dániel Z. Kádár ◽  
Juliane House

Abstract This introductory position paper aims to familiarise the reader with the pragmatics of ritual and previous research in this field. Ritual is a complex pragmatic phenomenon present in many types of interaction, and it has been subject to academic inquiries in various disciplines. We will draw on previous research to provide a working definition of ritual, which will help us to introduce the present collection of papers. We will then introduce the different, but interrelated, methodologies used in ritual research, categorising these complementary methodologies as ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ respectively. We use this categorisation to overview the contributions of the special issue from a methodological perspective. Finally, a summary of the contents of the special issue completes this introduction.

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-495
Author(s):  
Jonathan Cole

This paper introduces the background to the debate addressed by the papers of this Special Issue of Pragmatics & Cognition. Starting with a definition of consciousness it traces some ways in which the term is applied; from clinical medicine, where it relates somewhat crudely to responsiveness to external stimuli, to more cognitive and philosophical aspects such as higher order consciousness and its content. It then discusses the relation of consciousness to brain anatomy, the neural correlates of consciousness, and its possible evolution. In the meeting which forms the basis for Frith’s core paper, Christof Koch also made important contributions, here précised. A discussion of the origins of consciousness in relation to the top-down and bottom-up models brought to the fore follows suit.


2018 ◽  
pp. 10-37
Author(s):  
Barbara Curyło

In the discussion on the future of the EU, the topic of differentiated integration has become a strategic issue, with different variants beginning to appear as modus operandi of the European Union, which has become a subject of controversy among Member States. Significantly, the debate on differentiated integration began to be accompanied by reflections on disintegration. This article attempts to define disintegration on the assumption that it should be defined through the prism of integration, and that such a defining process can not be limited to concluding a one-way contrast between disintegration versus integration and vice versa. This is due to the assumption that the European Union is a dichotomous construct in which integration and disintegration mutually exclude and complement each other. This dichotomy is most evident in the definition of integration and disintegration through the prism of Europeanisation top-down and bottom-up processes that generate, reveal, visualize, stimulate integration mechanisms what allows to diagnose their determinants.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Roache

Ambiguities, inconsistencies, and recommended interpretations of the commonly cited definition of validation for computational fluid dynamics codes/models are examined. It is shown that the definition-deduction approach is prone to misinterpretation, and that bottom-up descriptions rather than top-down legalistic definitions are to be preferred for science-based engineering and journal policies, though legalistic definitions are necessary for contracts.


Author(s):  
Jan Koenderink

The very definition of “illusion” is elusive. Various distinct ontologies are considered. The concept is tightly bound to the understanding of reality, awareness, “God’s eye,” objectivity, subjectivity, emphatic relations, and several others. Here the distinctions between “illusion,” “ambiguity, “delusion,” and “deception,” are clarified. The very notion of illusion is closely tied to conceptual approaches to mind. Especially the dichotomy between a top-down “controlled hallucination” and a bottom-up “inverse physics” approach accounts for much confusion in the literature. It is suggested that a thoroughly biological approach might be preferable. In such an approach, experimental psychobiology would be a special sub-branch—devoted to the genus homo—of ethology. Does this help to impose a formal structure, such as a partial order, on the zoo of illusions as we know them? Unfortunately, not really. At this moment in history, we are still far from such a reasoned inventory.


PLoS Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. e3000927
Author(s):  
Martha Merrow ◽  
Mary Harrington

Characterization of circadian systems at the organism level—a top-down approach—has led to definition of unifying properties, a hallmark of the science of chronobiology. The next challenge is to use a bottom-up approach to show how the molecular workings of the cellular circadian clock work as building blocks of those properties. We review new studies, including a recently published PLOS Biology paper by Nikhil and colleagues, that show how programmed but also stochastic generation of variation in cellular circadian period explain important adaptive features of entrained circadian phase.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-3
Author(s):  
Nobuyuki Moronuki

Regular micro/nanostructures or textures provide such functions as optical or friction properties, but neither texture design nor the texturing process has been well developed. Functional texture is often inspired by natural designs, with the microstructure on the surface of lotus leaves or the nanostructure on the bottoms of geckos’ feet often cited as examples. “Biomimetic” has become a keyword in state-of-the-art technologies. Processes are also important because functional textures require a wide range of structural dimensions, from nanometers to micrometers. Top-down processes such as cutting or energy beam processing are often used and are based on the copying principle. Bottom-up processes include the self-assembly of particles and the anodic oxidation of aluminum. As the principle behind bottom-up processes is completely different from that behind top-down processes, special attention is warranted. Furthermore, material deposition can effect drastic changes in surface functionality. This special issue features nine papers, including eight studies and one review paper, classified into the following topics: - Biomimetic design of functions - Top-down or cutting texturing processes - Bottom-up or self-organization texturing processes - Measurement system for textures - Optical applications - Optical applications - Adhesive applications - Biomedical applications These papers present the latest advances in texturing processes, functional design, and realization or demonstration. Learning more about these advances will enable readers toshare their knowledge and experience in technologies, development, and potential texturing applications. In closing, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the authors and reviewers for their interesting and enlightening contributions to this special issue.


2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa S. Cardon ◽  
Maw–Der Foo ◽  
Dean Shepherd ◽  
Johan Wiklund

Entrepreneurial emotion refers to the affect, emotions, moods, and/or feelings—of individuals or a collective—that are antecedent to, concurrent with, and/or a consequence of, the entrepreneurial process, meaning the recognition/creation, evaluation, reformulation, and/or the exploitation of a possible opportunity. In this paper, we explore this working definition of entrepreneurial emotion, what it means, and some important advances the field has made in this area of research. We also highlight fundamental avenues for future research that are sorely in need of study. Finally, we introduce the seven papers in this special issue on the Heart of Entrepreneurship and how they move the conversation on entrepreneurial emotion forward.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Wendelin Sroka ◽  
Simona Szakács-Behling

This introduction addresses the origins, general assumptions and intentions of the special issue. The guest editors show how reading primers published and used around the end of the Second World War in several European countries may serve as an object of study in different disciplinary contexts. They present a broad working definition of the reading primer as an educational medium that lends itself to interdisciplinary research which takes into account aspects such as visual and textual content, materiality, and societal contexts of production, distribution and usage. The editors further highlight characteristics of current research into primers and argue in favor of more comparative approaches that reveal transnational dimensions of textbooks designed to teach children how to read and write.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Luke Hilton

<p>Global administrative law (GAL) aims to plug the “accountability deficit” in global institutions by projecting national administrative law principles onto the global scale. Global administrative action has been provisionally delineated as "rulemaking, adjudication, and other decisions that are neither treaty-making nor simple dispute settlements between parties”. But the concept has not yet been defined. The paper adopts a “bottom up” approach by analysing the domestic administrative law of America, New Zealand, and South Africa in order to construct a definition of global administrative action. The paper presents a working definition of the concept.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (7) ◽  
pp. 647-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anatoliy Gruzd ◽  
Jenna Jacobson ◽  
Barry Wellman ◽  
Philip H. Mai

As a scholarly domain, social media research has come a long way since the term “social media” first appeared in the literature in the early 2000s. Since then, researchers across disciplines have been actively examining the impact of social media on society. According to Web of Science, there are currently over 19,000 academic articles that include the term “social media.” This special issue of American Behavioral Scientist adds to this rapidly growing body of social media research with a focus on exploring (1) networked influence, (2) transmission of (mis)information, and (3) online and offline, which points to an unstated struggle between top-down attempts by governments and large organizations to influence society and bottom-up citizen articulations of needs and actions.


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