Conflict Management for Target Recognition Based on PPT Entropy and Entropy Distance

Conflicting evidence affects the final target recognition results. Thus, managing conflicting evidence efficiently can help to improve the belief degree of the true target. In current research, the existing approaches based on belief entropy use belief entropy itself to measure evidence conflict. However, it is not convincing to characterize the evidence conflict only through belief entropy itself. To solve this problem, we comprehensively consider the influences of the belief entropy itself and mutual belief entropy on conflict measurement, and propose a novel approach based on an improved belief entropy and entropy distance. The improved belief entropy based on pignistic probability transformation function is named pignistic probability transformation (PPT) entropy that measures the conflict between evidences from the perspective of self-belief entropy. Compared with the state-of-the-art belief entropy, it can measure the uncertainty of evidence more accurately, and make full use of the intersection information of evidence to estimate the degree of evidence conflict more reasonably. Entropy distance is a new distance measurement method and is used to measure the conflict between evidences from the perspective of mutual belief entropy. Two measures are mutually complementary in a sense. The results of numerical examples and target recognition applications demonstrate that our proposed approach has a faster convergence speed, and a higher belief degree of the true target compared with the existing methods.

Co-semiosis and other interpersonal activities

This chapter discusses interpersonal activities which have the potential to feed into conventionalization and entrenchment. Co-semiosis is the most important interpersonal activity. It is defined as the negotiation of the mutual belief of mutual understanding and shared intentionality. It is based on the licensing potential of utterance types. Co-adaptation is the tendency to repeat and adopt aspects of the speech or style of others in a usage event. It is also known as accommodation, alignment, persistence, etc. Arguably, co-adaptation has a strong potential for the conventionalization and entrenchment of all kinds of utterance types. Co-construction is another important interpersonal activity closely related to the negotiation of shared intentionality. Further interpersonal activities which are important for the conventionalization of utterance types and the entrenchment of patterns of associations are turn-taking and illocutionary and perlocutionary acts, mitigating, stance-taking, and acts of identity, i.e. self-presentation and positioning.

Phonological and semantic aspects of German intonation

This paper presents an outline of an autosegmental-metrical analysis of German intonation adopting Gussenhoven’s (1983, 2005) approach to Dutch intonation. A features-based interpretation of the phonological units is given, which is based on an analysis of tonal contrasts. This analysis suggests that tones of different tone classes bear semantic features that relate to the mutual belief space, information packaging, conversational structure, thematic structure, conceptual structure, and speaker attitudes.

INTERSUBJECTIVE BELIEF

ABSTRACTThis paper proposes a new model of shared belief amongst individual subjects based on a new approach to theorising individual subjects in social context. In this approach, which I term the intersubjective approach, individual subjects are modelled in terms of the standpoint of each of us, thereby incorporating the phenomenological standpoint of an individual subject's inclusion of herself within the plurality, ‘us’ (a class in the distributive sense). This provides resources for a new model of shared belief, including common belief, in terms of intersubjective belief, which is an individual subject's belief that ‘each of us has the same belief that p’. The paper argues that the intersubjective model of shared belief provides a non-reductive alternative to the standard interactive model of mutual belief and common belief, and so provides a non-individualistic framework for analysing shared belief in social contexts. As an illustration, the intersubjective model of common belief is applied to the Hi-Lo game; the solution is (High, High).

A New Institutional Approach in Explaining the Underdevelopment of Islamic Microfinance

The progress of Islamic microfinance is very slow despite the fact that mainstream Islamic finance has been growing marvellously. This paper explains the logic of underdeveloped Islamic microfinance, placing an emphasis on the supply side of funds. It argues that Islamic altruism appears to be dependent on reciprocity backed by mutual belief in the omnipotence and omniscience of the absolute power. Strong reciprocity however, may create a ‘dilemma’ - to be or not to be unconditional altruist - on the actors which might ironically drain the supply of funding to the poor. Evidence to support this hypothesis has been provided explaining some cases and other anecdotal facts. The research proposes that besides relying on actors’ belief towards omnipotence and omniscience, appropriate safeguards against potential violation of cooperative and other Islamic social norms should be devised ex ante; otherwise Islamic microfinance is unlikely to thrive in the future.

No Need for Infinite Iteration

As part of his argument for a “Copernican revolution” in social ontology, Hans Bernhard Schmid (2005) argues that the individualistic approach to social ontology is critically flawed. This article rebuts his claim that the notion of mutual belief necessarily entails infinite iteration of beliefs about the intentions of others, and argues that collective action can arise from individual contributions without such iteration. What matters is whether or when there are grounds for belief, and while extant groups and social structures may be relevant to some forms of collective action, this does not show that all forms of collective action depends on such such pre-established collectivity.