Memory Disjunctivism: a Causal Theory

Relationalists about episodic memory must endorse a disjunctivist theory of memory-experience according to which cases of genuine memory and cases of total confabulation involve distinct kinds of mental event with different natures. This paper is concerned with a pair of arguments against this view, which are analogues of the ‘causal argument’ and the ‘screening off argument’ that have been pressed in recent literature against relationalist (and hence disjunctivist) theories of perception. The central claim to be advanced is that to deal with these two arguments, memory disjunctivists both can and should draw on resources that are standardly appealed to by rival common factor theories of episodic memory, and, in particular, to the idea that genuine memories and merely apparent ones are to be distinguished, at least in part, in terms of the distinctive ways in which they are caused. On the proposed view, there are substantive causal constraints associated both with cases of genuine memory and with cases of mere confabulation. The resulting theory thus tells us something important about the nature both of genuine memories and of mere confabulations, namely, that such experiences must be caused in certain distinctive ways and cannot occur except as the result of a distinctive sort of causal process. In addition, the theory enables the disjunctivist to offer a unified response to an important pair of arguments against her view.

Causation in Realist Constructivism: Interactionality, Emergence and the Need for Interpretation

Realist constructivism has the potential to offer a stronger account of causation than either classical realism or constructivism on their own. It can combine classical realism’s account of interactionality and rationalism in power politics, in which agency acquires a significant causal role, and constructivism’s account of causal emergence, where social context is analyzed in depth and the causal role of normative structures is highlighted. This account of causality, embedded in a critical realist philosophy of social science, shows that realist constructivist causal argument needs to incorporate interpretivism in order to give better accounts of causation that accounts for the roles of both agency and structure.

Destination Competitiveness

Numerous studies suggest that an increase in a destination's brand equity can lead to greater competitiveness of the destination by influencing consumer behavior through the greater possibility of destination selection, increased destination loyalty, and a willingness to pay more to visit the destination. However, some studies seem to lend support to the reverse causal argument: that certain destination competitiveness attributes can be the antecedents of a destination's brand equity. This chapter posits that destination competitiveness can be classified into two components: (1) “functional attributes” being the antecedent of destination brand equity and (2) “abstract attributes” that is actually influenced by destination brand equity. A Delphi-survey was conducted to assist in the classification of competitiveness attributes into the components of either functional or abstract attributes. Subsequent tests confirm the mediating effect of destination brand equity in the relationship between the functional and abstract attributes.

Kilka uwag o formalizacji argumentu propozycjonalnego pCaus w zdaniach z przyimkowymi kauzatywnymi wyrażeniami predykatywnymi w języku bułgarskim

Some remarks on the formalization of the propositional argument pCaus in sentences with prepositional causative predicative expressions in Bulgarian The paper focuses on the means of expressing propositional arguments in sentences with prepositional causative predicative expressions. Special attention is devoted to the causal argument (pCaus) and the processes of syntactic condensation and decondensation. Kilka uwag o formalizacji argumentu propozycjonalnego pCaus w zdaniach z przyimkowymi kauzatywnymi wyrażeniami predykatywnymi w języku bułgarskim W artykule skoncentrowano się na środkach wyrażania argumentów propozycjonalnych w zdaniach z przyimkowymi kauzatywnymi wyrażeniami predykatywnymi. Więcej miejsca poświęcono argumentowi przyczynowemu (pCaus) oraz procesom kondensacji i dekondensacji składniowej.

A pragma-dialectical approach to governmental crisis communication

To explore an argumentative approach to governmental crisis communication, this research adopts the pragma-dialectical framework to analyze and evaluate a local Chinese government’s crisis discourse concerning disputes over a proposed chemical project. The discourse is collected from the popular local online forum Mengxi Forum. By reconstructing from the discourse the four stages of a critical discussion, analyzing the embedded strategic maneuverings and evaluating the argumentation in view of institutional preconditions, it is shown that in its use of co-ordinative argumentation structures and causal argument schemes, the local government’s crisis discourse is not dialectically reasonable enough to convince the other stakeholders of the necessity to implement the proposed project. The results also shed some light on the necessity for governments’ crisis information management to ensure in its crisis discourse both dialectical reasonableness and rhetorical effectiveness.

Causal Argument

This chapter outlines the range of argument forms involving causation that can be found in everyday discourse. It also surveys empirical work concerned with the generation and evaluation of such arguments. This survey makes clear that there is presently no unified body of research concerned with causal argument. It highlights the benefits of a unified treatment both for those interested in causal cognition and those interested in argumentation, and identifies the key challenges that must be met for a full understanding of causal argumentation.