A Simple Theory of Argument Schemes

While there has been in depth discussion of many particular argumentation schemes, some lament that there is little to no theory underpinning the notion of an argumentation scheme. Here I shall argue against the utility of argument schemes, at least as a fundamental part of a complete theory of arguments. I shall also present and defend a minimalist theory of their nature—a scheme is just a set of proposition expressions and propositional functions. While simple, the theory contravenes several typical desiderata of argumentation schemes such as (i) aiding in the identification of enthymemes and (ii) keeping arguments constrained to a manageable taxonomy. So much the worse for the desiderata. Instead, I shall recommend focusing less on schemes and more on the component propositional functions.

Teori Hukum Pidana Minimalis dari Douglas Husak: Urgensi dan Relevansi

Douglas Husak has been widely known, especially in the United States and Europe, as a leading theorist who combines the disciplines of legal philosophy and criminal law. Most of his writings were directed at the use of the coercive means of the state through criminal law as minimum as possible. The minimalist theory of criminal law that he coined was motivated by the phenomenon of the increasing number of acts criminalized in the United States Federal State Law in which the majority related to offenses of risk prevention causing overcriminalization. To prevent this, criminal law must be placed as a last resort. The state’s decision to criminalize an act must pay attention to internal and external constraints. The first includes the nontrivial harm or evil constraint, the culpability of the actor, and the proportionality of punishment, while the second is related to the substantiality of the state’s authority to punish. The thought is relevant to be adopted in the criminalization policy in Indonesia, especially regarding the principle of the blameworthiness of conduct, the severity of punishment must weigh the dangerousness of the (actor) offenses, and criminalization should not be taken if other means are equally effective or even more effective to achieve the goal. Abstrak Douglas Husak dikenal luas terutama di Amerika Serikat dan Eropa sebagai teoretisi terkemuka yang menggabungkan antara disiplin filsafat hukum dan hukum pidana. Tulisan-tulisan Husak kebanyakan diarahkan pada penggunaan sarana koersif negara melalui hukum pidana seminimal mungkin. Teori hukum pidana minimalis yang dicetuskannya dilatarbelakangi fenomena semakin banyaknya perbuatan-perbuatan yang dikriminalisasi dalam undang-undang Negara Federal Amerika dan mayoritas terkait offenses of risk prevention sehingga menimbulkan kelebihan kriminalisasi. Untuk mencegahnya, hukum pidana harus ditempatkan sebagai sarana terakhir. Keputusan negara untuk mengkriminalisasi suatu perbuatan harus memperhatikan pembatas internal dan pembatas eksternal. Yang pertama meliputi sifat jahat dan dampak kerugian/kerusakan yang begitu serius dari dilakukannya suatu tindak pidana, kesalahan pembuat, dan proporsionalitas pidana; sedangkan yang kedua terkait substansialitas kewenangan negara untuk memidana. Pemikiran Husak relevan untuk diadopsi dalam kebijakan kriminalisasi di Indonesia terutama menyangkut prinsip ketercelaan suatu perbuatan, penetapan beratnya ancaman pidana mengacu pada seriusitas delik dan kesalahan pembuat, dan kriminalisasi tidak boleh ditempuh jika cara-cara lain sama efektif atau bahkan lebih efektif untuk mencapai tujuan.

MINIMALIST THEORY OF FICTION AND THE ICTHINKING® METHOD AS A BACKGROUND FOR NEW INSIGHTS TO AUTISM

The standard approach to conceptual understanding in the case of autism uses the distinction of abstract versus concrete thinking. This approach has its benefits but fails to explain all features of language use. For example, some concepts change their meaning in different contexts in contrast to concepts that are more rigid in their uses, such as mathematical concepts. This idea has its background in Minimalist theory of fiction (MTF), a theory that considers ‘skills to use words’ essential for understanding fiction, contrasting with theories that require pretending or make believe to understand fiction. From this background, the theory of Integrative Complexity (IC), and the method animating for practice, ICthinking®, can be of particular use to autistic people. The interventions develop meta-cognitive skills and are supportive of autistic people. From these starting points, we introduce new research hypotheses for developing educational methods especially for autistic people. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0765/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Reduplication and the structure of nouns in Xining Chinese

In Xining Chinese, especially as used by older people, free nouns are always reduplicated, as a purely formal condition without any semantic effects. We argue that the reduplication takes place when an acategorial root is merged with a null nominal categorizer which copies the phonological matrix of the root, as an effect of a condition ruling out free monosyllabic nouns. When the condition is not independently satisfied, as in a compound or derived noun, reduplication is how the condition is met. Reduplication also occurs optionally in compounds or derived nouns. In conjunction with a minimalist theory of word formation, this will be shown to predict the distribution of reduplication in various contexts. For instance, the head of a compound can be reduplicated, but not the modifier, some affixes but not others permit reduplication of the base, non-compositional compounds do not allow reduplication, and so-called ‘bound roots’ (really, bound words) are not reduplicated. The phenomenon provides very strong evidence that simple content words are made up of an acategorial root and a categorizer which is often null, but can be overt in some languages, including Xining Chinese, where it is overt in nouns by virtue of reduplication.

Mansā Mūsā and Global Mali

This chapter describes Mali's most legendary figure: Mansā Mūsā. A remarkable period of stability and expansion ensued under Mansā Mūsā, resulting in a West Africa at its pinnacle. Mūsā would embrace Islam emphatically, breaking with predecessors by building mosques in key cities, laying the foundation for Mali's reputation as a Muslim land. Islam would soon become a principal cultural signifier, articulating a realm of growing ethnic diversity while compensating for an imperial presence guided by a minimalist theory of governance. For all of Mūsā's accomplishments, however, he would never fully escape rumors of matricide and intrigue. But in paying close attention to what the sources say, it is as critical to note what they do not say, which leads to the stunning realization that the very zenith of the Malian moment is essentially disregarded in the oral traditions.

Evolutionary Dynamics Do Not Motivate a Single-Mutant Theory of Human Language

One of the most controversial hypotheses in cognitive science is the Chomskyan evolutionary conjecture that language arose instantaneously in our species as the result of a single staggeringly fortuitous mutation. Here we analyze the evolutionary dynamics implied by this hypothesis, which has never been formalized. The theory supposes the emergence and fixation of a single mutant (capable of the syntactic operation Merge) during a narrow historical window as a result of frequency-independent selection under a huge fitness advantage in a population of an effective size that is standardly assumed to have been no larger than ~15 000 early humans. We examine this proposal by combining diffusion analysis and extreme value theory to derive a probabilistic formulation of its dynamics. Perhaps counter-intuitively, a macro-mutation is much more unlikely a priori than multiple mutations with smaller fitness effects, yet both hypotheses predict fixation with high conditional probability. The consequences of this asymmetry have not been accounted for previously. Our results diffuse any suggestion that evolutionary reasoning provides an independent rationale for the controversial single-mutant theory of language.Significance statementIn recent years, Chomsky and colleagues have sought support for their minimalist theory of the language faculty from evolutionary considerations. They have argued for a spontaneous emergence of a mutation conferring an advantage for thought independent of communication. Here for the first time a formalization of this view is offered, and contrasted with a more gradual evolutionary scenario. The outcome of our analysis argues against the Chomskyan view.

Conceivability, Minimalism and the Generalization Problem

One of the main problems that Paul Horwich’s Minimalist theory of truth must face is the generalization problem, which shows that Minimalism is too weak to have the fundamental explanatory role Horwich claims it has. In this paper, I defend Horwich’s response to the generalization problem from an objection raised by Bradley Armour-Garb. I also argue that, given my response to Armour-Garb, Horwich’s proposal to cope with the generalization problem can be simplified.

Verb Movement in Romance

This book provides a detailed account of verb movement across more than twenty standard and non-standard Romance varieties. It examines the position of the verb with respect to a wide selection of hierarchically ordered adverbs, as laid out in Cinque’s (1999) seminal work. The volume uses extensive empirical data to demonstrate that, contrary to traditional assumptions, it is possible to identify at least four distinct macro-typologies in the Romance languages: these macro-typologies stem from a compensatory mechanism between syntax and morphology in licensing the Tense, Aspect, and Mood interpretation of the verb. It adopts a hybrid cartographic / minimalist approach, in which cartography provides the empirical tools of investigation, and minimalist theory provides the technical motivations for the movement phenomena that are observed. It provides a valuable tool for the examination of fundamental morphosyntactic properties from a cross-Romance perspective, and constitutes a useful point of departure for further investigations into the nature and triggers of verb movement cross-linguistically.