scholarly journals Contradictory (forward) lifetime effects and the non-future tense in Mandarin Chinese

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry Yong Chen ◽  
E. Matthew Husband

Lifetime effects refer to the inferences about the life/death of the individual in sentences with individual-level predicates like ‘Mary is/was blue-eyed’. In English, contradictory lifetime inferences arise when the subject denotes one living and one dead individual (e.g. Saussuredead and Chomskyliving #are/??were both linguists.), but no such inferences arises in Mandarin Chinese, a language that has been considered “tenseless” due to the lack of past tense morphemes. This paper investigates the online processing of contradictory lifetime effects and presents additional empirical observations about “forward lifetime effects”, which suggest that both covert past tense and tenseless accounts of Chinese are inadequate for capturing temporal interpretations in this language; instead, finite clauses in Chinese display a Future/Non-Future distinction and are likely to possess a tense node. We discuss our findings in relation to the typology of tense as well as implications for other superficially tenseless languages.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry Yong Chen

Lifetime effects refer to the inferences about the life/death of the individual in sentences like ‘Mary is/was blue-eyed’. In English, contradictory lifetime inferences arise when the subject denotes one living and one dead individual, as neither tense is appropriate for the English copular, whereas no such intuition arises in Mandarin Chinese, a language that has been considered “tenseless” due to the lack of grammaticalised tense morphemes. In this thesis, I argue, with psycholinguistic evidence from online processing of contradictory lifetime inferences as well as empirical observations about "forward lifetime effects", that both covert past tense and tenseless accounts of Chinese are inadequate for capturing the temporal interpretations in this language: (1) Chinese speakers encountered reading time disruption for sentences with contradictory lifetime inferences, even though such sentences are judged as acceptable in an offline task; (2) Chinese bare predicates cannot be used when the subject involves one living and one yet-to-be-born individual. Taken together, these pieces of evidence suggest that the Chinese bare predicates are likely to possess a tense node with a Future/Non-Future distinction. I further suggest that Tense is a universal functional category that possesses a binary feature distinction, with a split between either Past/Non-Past or Future/Non-Future: all languages have a Tense Phrase in their hierarchical structure, although some languages lack overt marking of tense on nominals or verbs (or both). A new theory of tense is needed to account for the cross-linguistic variation on the surface form and the underlying homogeneity of temporal reference in language. (This is a revised version of my thesis.)


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-198
Author(s):  
Wiktor Soral ◽  
Mirosław Kofta

Abstract. The importance of various trait dimensions explaining positive global self-esteem has been the subject of numerous studies. While some have provided support for the importance of agency, others have highlighted the importance of communion. This discrepancy can be explained, if one takes into account that people define and value their self both in individual and in collective terms. Two studies ( N = 367 and N = 263) examined the extent to which competence (an aspect of agency), morality, and sociability (the aspects of communion) promote high self-esteem at the individual and the collective level. In both studies, competence was the strongest predictor of self-esteem at the individual level, whereas morality was the strongest predictor of self-esteem at the collective level.


Author(s):  
Samir Okasha

‘Levels of selection’ examines the levels-of-selection question, which asks whether natural selection acts on individuals, genes, or groups. This question is one of the most fundamental in evolutionary biology, and the subject of much controversy. Traditionally, biologists have mostly been concerned with selection and adaptation at the individual level. But, in theory, there are other possibilities, including selection on sub-individual units such as genes and cells, and on supra-individual units such as groups and colonies. Group selection, altruistic behaviour, kin selection, the gene-centric view of evolution, and the major transitions in evolution are all discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuria Nadal-Burgues ◽  
Eduard Bonet

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present new aspects of the tension between creativity and productivity and improve the understanding on how research can be developed in very restricted environments, such as the context of an organization managed using the methods of Project Management. And more generally, it introduces the rhetoric of judgment as a fundamental aspect involved in the development and specification of projects. Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical approach is based on the phenomenological theory of human intentional action developed by Alfred Schutz, in which the notion of mental project is more flexible than that of project management. In it the concepts of subaction and repeated action are considered a combination of similar actions already performed. The Kantian notion of judgment is introduced to outline self-persuasion as a fundamental source of creativity. Findings – The introduction of an extended notion of project and routine involving judgment expands the rational, generic and technical notion of project management. And the rhetorical aspect of judgment, at the individual level, establishes the possibility to deliver unexpected outcomes that are considered creative. Originality/value – The proposed notions of project and routines mediated through the rhetoric of judgment present theoretical and practical progress in the subject of managing projects.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neus Feliu ◽  
Isabel C. Botero

Philanthropy in family enterprises operates at the crossroads of family, business, and society. Most of the research in this area is approached from the business or the individual level; thus, we have a fragmented understanding of philanthropy in family enterprises. This article presents a systematic review of the literature on the subject. Based on 55 sources published between 1988 and 2014, we explain the drivers of this behavior, the vehicles used to practice it, and the outcomes tied to the practice of philanthropy in family enterprises. We identify gaps in our understanding and provide ideas for future research.


Author(s):  
David Sloan Wilson

People have always been fascinated by cooperation and altruism in animals, in part to shed light on our own propensity or reluctance to help others. Darwin’s theory added a certain urgency to the subject because the principle of “nature red in tooth and claw” superficially seems to deny the possibility of altruism and cooperation altogether. Some evolutionary biologists have accepted and even reveled in this vision of nature, giving rise to statements such as “the economy of nature is competitive from beginning to end . . . scratch an ‘altruist’ and watch a hypocrite bleed”. Others have gone so far in the opposite direction as to proclaim the entire earth a unit that cooperatively regulates its own atmosphere (Lovelock 1979). The truth is somewhere between these two extremes; cooperation and altruism can evolve but only if special conditions are met. As might be expected from the polarized views outlined above, achieving this middle ground has been a difficult process. Science is often portrayed as a heroic march to the truth, but in this case, it is more like the Three Stooges trying to move a piano. I don’t mean to underestimate the progress that been made—the piano has been moved—but we need to appreciate the twists, turns, and reversals in addition to the final location. To see why cooperation and altruism pose a problem for evolutionary theory, consider the evolution of a nonsocial adaptation, such as cryptic coloration. Imagine a population of moths that vary in the degree to which they match their background. Every generation, the most conspicuous moths are detected and eaten by predators while the most cryptic moths survive and reproduce. If offspring resemble their parents, then the average moth will become more cryptic with every generation. Anyone who has beheld a moth that looks exactly like a leaf, right down to the veins and simulated herbivore damage, cannot fail to be impressed by the power of natural selection to evolve breathtaking adaptations at the individual level. Now consider the same process for a social adaptation, such as members of a group warning each other about approaching predators.


Modern Italy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Bertrand Marilier

This article examines the relationship of the young Giovanni Papini to the notion of imperialism. The period of Papini's intellectual formation was a time of intense debate among the Italian intelligentsia concerning imperialism and its relationship to nation and culture. He joined the conversation with a distinctive interpretation of the idea, one that could at once make him heir apparent to the tradition of Umbertian nationalism, while also rejecting the positivist slant of his forebears. William James's porous conception of the subject and Papini's sense of his own fragmented subjectivity provided the ground for a psychological understanding of imperialism: one that relied on knowledge and appreciation, which translated into literature at the individual level, and into culture at that of the nation. Ultimately, however, disappointments abroad, the demands of nationalist politics, and Papini's own avant-garde posture, led him to abandon his intellectual empire in favour of a more concrete one.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 2672-2679
Author(s):  
Anthony G Shannon ◽  
Dr Danielle Eden

The limits, purpose and scope of academic freedom have been the subject of media controversy, partly because academic freedom and academic integrity are close relatives, the occasional missing link being research ethics. While freedom and integrity should protect each another, it is difficult for institutions and those who navigate them to balance competing and conflicting demands. Some of these demands are at the institutional level and others at the individual level. The purpose of this paper is to tease out some of the issues which are often too sensitive to articulate in the public square.


Author(s):  
Ю.В. Постылякова

В статье в рамках экологического и ресурсного подходов анализируется понятие индивидуальной жизнеспособности как важной характеристики студентов. Рассматриваются индивидуальные навыки жизнеспособности студента, проявляемой им в процессе обучения в университете, анализируются модели жизнеспособности А. Мастен и М. Унгара, созданные в рамках экологической модели развития Ю. Бронфеннбренера. Предложена экологическая модель жизнеспособности студента, которая позволяет учитывать большое число различных факторов риска, прямо или опосредованно оказывающих влияние на студента, и его защитных факторов, к которым он может обращаться для ответа на требования или угрозы, идущие от факторов риска. Факторы риска, действующие на уровне макросистем (актуальная экологическая, эпидемиологическая, экономическая и др. ситуации в стране или мире), в которые включен субъект, взаимодействуют со всеми нижележащими уровнями экологический системы (микро-, мезо- и экзосистемы, например, образовательная система вуза; семейная система и др.), и опосредованно оказывают на них влияние. Все это предъявляет к студенту требования, на которые он вынужден отвечать на основе своих индивидуальных ресурсов, а также ресурсов, заключенных на микро-, мезо- и экзо- уровнях. На любом из уровней, любая из систем может нести в себе как факторы риска, так и факторы защиты, быть ресурсной для отдельного студента. Риски могут возникать как на индивидуальном уровне (на уровне микросистем), так и на уровнях более высокого порядка. Поэтому и проявления жизнеспособности студентом оказываются необходимыми во всех этих системах и на разных уровнях. Развитие и усиление жизнеспособности происходит по мере того, как все уровни (семьи, университета, сообщества) работают вместе, чтобы положительно влиять на индивидуальный уровень жизнеспособности студента. Показано значение экологической модели жизнеспособности студента при использовании ее специалистами в области социальной, педагогической, семейной психологии, психологии развития для анализа факторов риска и жизнеспособности в научных исследованиях, психотерапевтической и консультационной работе. The article analyzes the concept of individual resilience as an important characteristic of students within the framework of environmental and resource approaches. The individual skills of the student's resilience shown by him in the process of studying at the University are considered, the models of resilience by A. Masten and M. Ungar created within the framework of the ecological model of development by Yu. Bronfenbrenner. An ecological model of the student's resilience is proposed, which allows us to take into account a large number of different risk factors that directly or indirectly affect the student, and his protective factors that he can turn to respond to the requirements or threats coming from risk factors. Risk factors operating at the level of macro-systems (current environmental, epidemiological, economic, etc. situations in the country or world), in which the subject is included, interact with all the underlying levels of the ecological system (micro -, meso - and exosystems, for example, the educational system of a university, the family system, etc.), and indirectly influence them. All this makes demands on the student, which he is forced to meet on the basis of his individual resources, as well as resources contained at the micro -, meso - and exo - levels. At any level, any of the systems can carry both risk factors and protection factors, be a resource for a student. Risks can occur both at the individual level (at the level of Microsystems) and at higher-order levels. The manifestations of resilience by the student are necessary in all these systems and at different levels. The development and strengthening of resilience occurs as all levels (family, university, community) work together to positively influence the individual level of the student's resilience. The importance of the ecological model of the student's resilience is shown when it is used by specialists in the field of social, pedagogical, family psychology, developmental psychology for the analysis of risk factors and resilience in scientific research, psychotherapeutic and consulting work.


Author(s):  
Solveiga Skunčikienė ◽  
Andrius Rakickas

The subject of the analysis in this paper is human capital formation at the individual level, applying business simulation models as a learning tool that meets requirements of the modern learning process that should include and link personal experience, encourage thinking, acquisition of new knowledge, formation of new experience and its application in analysing practical situations. The subject of the research paper: human capital formation using business simulation model. The aim of the research - to analyze the application possibilities of business simulation models for the human capital formation. To achieve the aim of the research the following tasks were set: to disclose the concept of business simulation model; to validate the applicability of business simulation models for human capital formation on the basis of empirical research. The subject of the analysis in this paper is human capital formation at the individual level, applying business simulation models as a learning tool that meets requirements of the modern learning process that should include and link personal experience, encourage thinking, acquisition of new knowledge, formation of new experience and its application in analysing practical situations. Research methods: analysis of scientific literature using operations of analysis and synthesis, comparison and systematization, questionnaire survey, and the following methods of statistical data analysis.


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