Ontology Deflated

2020 ◽  
pp. 58-72
Author(s):  
Bob Hale

Kit Fine (Fine, 2009) rejects the standard Quinean quantificational account of ontological questions and favours an account of a very different kind on which existence or reality is expressed not by quantifiers but by a predicate ‘exists’ or ‘is real’, itself ultimately to be explained in terms of a sentential operator. Although primarily directed against the quantificational account, Fine’s criticisms apply equally to the account favoured by Hale, which rejects much of Quine’s view but agrees with him on a fundamental point: ‘The mark of our commitment to entities of a given kind is our acceptance, as strictly and literally true, of statements embedding expressions which, if they have reference at all, have entities of that kind as their referents, or semantic values.’ The chapter’s aim here is to explain why Hale finds Fine’s criticisms to be unsound.

Author(s):  
T. E. Mitchell ◽  
M. R. Pascucci ◽  
R. A. Youngman

1. Introduction. Studies of radiation damage in ceramics are of interest not only from a fundamental point of view but also because it is important to understand the behavior of ceramics in various practical radiation enyironments- fission and fusion reactors, nuclear waste storage media, ion-implantation devices, outer space, etc. A great deal of work has been done on the spectroscopy of point defects and small defect clusters in ceramics, but relatively little has been performed on defect agglomeration using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in the same kind of detail that has been so successful in metals. This article will assess our present understanding of radiation damage in ceramics with illustrations using results obtained from the authors' work.


Author(s):  
Galen Strawson ◽  
Galen Strawson

John Locke's theory of personal identity underlies all modern discussion of the nature of persons and selves—yet it is widely thought to be wrong. This book argues that in fact it is Locke's critics who are wrong, and that the famous objections to his theory are invalid. Indeed, far from refuting Locke, they illustrate his fundamental point. The book argues that the root error is to take Locke's use of the word “person” as merely a term for a standard persisting thing, like “human being.” In actuality, Locke uses “person” primarily as a forensic or legal term geared specifically to questions about praise and blame, punishment and reward. This point is familiar to some philosophers, but its full consequences have not been worked out, partly because of a further error about what Locke means by the word “consciousness.” When Locke claims that your personal identity is a matter of the actions that you are conscious of, he means the actions that you experience as your own in some fundamental and immediate manner. Clearly and vigorously argued, this is an important contribution both to the history of philosophy and to the contemporary philosophy of personal identity.


Author(s):  
Tim Button ◽  
Sean Walsh

Chapters 6-12 are driven by questions about the ability to pin down mathematical entities and to articulate mathematical concepts. This chapter is driven by similar questions about the ability to pin down the semantic frameworks of language. It transpires that there are not just non-standard models, but non-standard ways of doing model theory itself. In more detail: whilst we normally outline a two-valued semantics which makes sentences True or False in a model, the inference rules for first-order logic are compatible with a four-valued semantics; or a semantics with countably many values; or what-have-you. The appropriate level of generality here is that of a Boolean-valued model, which we introduce. And the plurality of possible semantic values gives rise to perhaps the ‘deepest’ level of indeterminacy questions: How can humans pin down the semantic framework for their languages? We consider three different ways for inferentialists to respond to this question.


Author(s):  
Herman Cappelen

This chapter continues to consider some foundational semantic issues important for the author’s theory, and for conceptual engineering in general. It argues that conceptual engineering is not—despite the nomenclature—concerned with concepts, but rather with the intensions and extensions of words. It introduces externalism about meaning, which is a key component of the Austerity Framework, and draws connections between meaning change and externalist discussions of reference shift. It responds to the objection that externalism makes changing meaning either impossible or extremely difficult by denying the first—it’s built into externalism that meaning change is possible—and frankly accepting the latter. It then argues that not only semantic values but also metasemantics can change over time, draws out some consequences, and discusses expressions that do not have intensions or extensions.


Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Pascale Leclercq

This study aims to advance the understanding of the impact of the discursive context in the form-function mappings of aller + V forms by native speakers (NSs) and learners of French (NNSs), and to further knowledge about the developmental patterns of use of such forms at three proficiency levels (lower intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced). While aller + V is often referred to as a periphrastic future form, i.e., a way to express temporal reference, it also takes a range of diverse semantic values (including spatial, aspectual, and modal values), and discursive functions. We therefore set out to examine data from a cross-sectional oral narrative and a longitudinal semi-guided interview task to find out to what extent aller + V forms are used by NSs and NNSs in a study abroad context. Our main results show that at lower intermediate level, spatial values dominate, while temporal and modal values emerge at upper intermediate and advanced levels. As regards the discursive functions of aller + V, learners make context appropriate choices (among others, narrative function in oral narratives, and stance-marking in interviews), but even at advanced level, their range of semantic values and discursive functions is more restricted than native speakers’.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Beatriz Sánchez Cárdenas ◽  
Pamela Faber

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2016v36nesp1p147Research in terminology has traditionally focused on nouns. Considerably less attention has been paid to other grammatical categories such as adverbs. However, these words can also be problematic for the novice translator, who tends to use the translation correspondences in bilingual dictionaries without realizing that formal equivalence is not necessarily the same as textual equivalence. However, semantic values, acquired in context, go far beyond dictionary meaning and are related to phenomena such as semantic prosody and preferences of lexical selection that can vary, depending on text type and specialized domain.This research explored the reasons why certain adverbial discourse connectors, apparently easy to translate, are a source of translation problems that cannot be easily resolved with a bilingual dictionary. Moreover, this study analyzed the use of parallel corpora in the translation classroom and how it can increase the quality of text production. For this purpose, we compared student translations before and after receiving training on the use of corpus analysis tools


1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 741-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. H. Venner

This paper addresses the development of efficient numerical solvers for EHL problems from a rather fundamental point of view. A work-accuracy exchange criterion is derived, that can be interpreted as setting a limit to the price paid in terms of computing time for a solution of a given accuracy. The criterion can serve as a guideline when reviewing or selecting a numerical solver and a discretization. Earlier developed multilevel solvers for the EHL line and circular contact problem are tested against this criterion. This test shows that, to satisfy the criterion a second-order accurate solver is needed for the point contact problem whereas the solver developed earlier used a first-order discretization. This situation arises more often in numerical analysis, i.e., a higher order discretization is desired when a lower order solver already exists. It is explained how in such a case the multigrid methodology provides an easy and straightforward way to obtain the desired higher order of approximation. This higher order is obtained at almost negligible extra work and without loss of stability. The approach was tested out by raising an existing first order multilevel solver for the EHL line contact problem to second order. Subsequently, it was used to obtain a second-order solver for the EHL circular contact problem. Results for both the line and circular contact problem are presented.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (20n22) ◽  
pp. 3258-3264 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. GRIGERA ◽  
A. P. MACKENZIE ◽  
A. J. SCHOFIELD ◽  
S. R. JULIAN ◽  
G. G. LONZARICH

In this paper, we discuss the concept of a metamagnetic quantum critical end-point, consequence of the depression to zero temperature of a critical end-point terminating a line of first order first transitions. This new type of quantum critical point (QCP) is interesting both from a fundamental point of view: a study of a symmetry conserving QCP, and because it opens the possibility of the use of symmetry breaking tuning parameters, notably the magnetic field. In addition, we discuss the experimental evidence for the existence of such a QCP in the bilayer ruthenate Sr3Ru2O7.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Biedermann ◽  
Garima Ghale, Ghale ◽  
Andreas Hennig ◽  
Werner M. Nau

<p>The spatiotemporally resolved monitoring of membrane translocation, <i>e.g.,</i> of drugs or toxins, has been a long-standing goal. Herein, we introduce the fluorescent artificial receptor-based membrane assay (FARMA), a facile, label-free method. With FARMA, the permeation of more than hundred organic compounds (drugs, toxins, pesticides, neurotransmitters, peptides, etc.) through vesicular phospholipid bilayer membranes has been monitored in real time (µs-h time scale) and with high sensitivity (nM-µM concentration), affording permeability coefficients across an exceptionally large range from 10<sup>–9</sup>‑10<sup>–3</sup> cm s<sup>–1</sup>. From a fundamental point of view, FARMA constitutes a powerful tool to assess structure-permeability relationships and to test biophysical models for membrane passage. From an applied perspective, FARMA can be extended to high-throughput screening by adaption of the microplate reader format, to spatial monitoring of membrane permeation by microscopy imaging, and to the compartmentalized monitoring of enzymatic activity.<b></b></p>


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