The aim of this paper is twofold. I criticize Michael Devitt's linguistic---as opposed to Chomsky's psychological---conception of linguistics on the one hand, and I modify his related view on linguistic intuitions on the other. I argue that Devitt's argument for the linguistic conception is in conflict with one of the main theses of that very conception, according to which linguistics should be about physical sentence tokens of a given language rather than about the psychologically real competence of native speakers. The (...) basis of this conflict is that Devitt's view on language, as I will show, inherits too much from the criticized Chomskian view. This is also the basis of Devitt's strange claim that it is the linguist, and not the ordinary speaker, whose linguistic intuition should have an evidential role in linguistics. I will argue for the opposite by sketching a view on language that is more appropriate to the linguistic conception. That is, in criticizing Devitt, I am not defending the Chomskian approach. My aim is to radicalize Devitt's claims. (shrink)

A new system of algebraic logic is described. it is closely related to cylindric and polyadic algebras, and is axiomatized by a small number of very simple equations.

Respecting and protecting the confidentiality of data and the privacy of individuals regarding the information that they have given as participants in a research project is a cornerstone of complying with accepted research standards. However, in longitudinal studies, establishing and maintaining privacy is often challenging because of the necessity of repeated contact with participants. A novel internet-based solution is introduced here, which maintains privacy while at the same time ensures linkage of data to individual participants in a repeated measures design. (...) With the use of the anonymous repeated measurements via email (ARME) procedure, two separate one-way communication systems are established through ad hoc email accounts and a secure study website. Strengths and limitations of the approach are discussed. (shrink)

Scholars Karl R. Popper and Thomas S. Kuhn developed new frameworks that helped shape practical science policies and contributed to a greater understanding of the power and limitations of science. Popper did not accept induction as a method of arriving at scientific conclusions and rejected the justification of scientific theories and hypotheses. On the other hand, Kuhn advocated the progress of science and accepted some principles of scientific practices, including law, theory, instrumentation and application. -/- .

-- v. 2. Hmikranies, hypertasē, emphragmata kai antimetōpisē.

Although mind‐wandering research is rapidly progressing, stark disagreements are emerging about what the term “mind‐wandering” means. Four prominent views define mind‐wandering as (a) task‐unrelated thought, (b) stimulus‐independent thought, (c) unintentional thought, or (d) dynamically unguided thought. Although theorists claim to capture the ordinary understanding of mind‐wandering, no systematic studies have assessed these claims. Two large factorial studies present participants (N = 545) with vignettes that describe someone's thoughts and ask whether her mind was wandering, while systematically manipulating features relevant to (...) the four major accounts of mind‐wandering. Dynamics explains between four and 40 times more variance in participants' mind‐wandering judgments than other features. Our third study (N = 153) tests and supports a unique prediction of the dynamic framework—obsessive rumination contrasts with mind‐wandering. Our final study (N = 277) used vignettes that resemble mind‐wandering experiments. Dynamics had significant and large effects, while task‐unrelatedness was nonsignificant. These results strongly suggest that the central feature of mind‐wandering is its dynamics. (shrink)

Solar energy has become an integral part of the economy of developed countries, so it is important to monitor the pace of its development, prospects, as well as the largest companies that produce solar panels since the supply of solar energy in a particular country directly depends on them. The study analyzes the shares of Canadian Solar Inc. and First Solar Inc. The purpose of the study is to study the possibility of forecasting the stock price of solar energy companies (...) using neural networks for the purpose of subsequent investment. The recurrent neural network LSTM is used in the article and this approach is based on complexity theory. Machine learning technologies are now being actively implemented in various sectors of the economy and are considered effective. The program used assigns different significance to the data of the last months and the data for the first months of the 1st year. The first year of the last 5 years of the company’s activity is taken as the first year since more distant data no longer have significant significance for the forecast. In the course of the study, a forecast of the stock price of Canadian Solar Inc. and First Solar Inc. for 245 days was obtained. Based on the results obtained, the following conclusions were made: 20 neurons of the network is not enough to make an accurate forecast, but the level of confidence in such a forecast is high enough, neural network forecasts are applicable in investing and are accurate enough to determine medium- and long-term trends, but these forecasts are not applicable for traders. The direction of improving the accuracy of neural network predictions is promising for further research. (shrink)

Interactomics aims to characterize all interactions formed between molecules that comprise our body. Although it emerged from quantitative biophysics, it has devolved into a predominantly qualitative field of science over the past decades. Due to technical limitations at its onset, almost all tools in interactomics are qualitative, which persists in defining the discipline. Here, we argue that interactomics needs to return to a quantitative direction because the technical achievements of the last decade have overcome the original limitations that forced its (...) current path. In contrast to qualitative interactomics which is constrained to charting lists of observed interactions, quantitative interactomics can also uncover answers to key questions such as the strength of interactions or how many of certain complexes can form in cells, thus providing researchers with more immediate proxies for understanding and predicting biological processes. (shrink)

Die Verfasserin des Beitrags u.d.T. - Harold Pinter - „Stanleys Geburtstag": wenn die Berührung zum Urteil wird bietet eine neue Lesart des Dramas von Pinter an. Im Gegensatz zu den bisherigen Interpretationen, vor allen Dingen der von Herta Schmidt, die die Erörterung des Textes mit der Theorie der Redearien von John Langshaw Austin fundieren, stützt sich die Autorin des Beitrags auf die Kulturtheorie von Ortega y Gasset sowie die Auschauungen von Elias Canetti. Die Theorie der Redearten erweist sich (...) dabei als defizitär, um das Drama aus dem Kreis des Absurden Theaters vollstanndig zu erschließen. (shrink)

The European Legacy, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 405-406, June 2012.

This essay interrogates the philosophy of Pinter through analyses of his language, religious understanding of life and through passing references to Buddhism.

A careful analysis of Harold Pinter’s screenplays, notably those written in the 1980s and early 1990s, renders an illustration of how the artist’s cinematic projects supplemented, and often heightened, the focus of his dramatic output, his resolute exploration of the workings of power, love and destruction at various levels of social interaction and bold revision of received values. It seems, however, that few of the scripts did so in such a subtle yet effective manner as Pinter’s intriguing fusion (...) of the erotic, violence and ethical concerns in the film The Comfort of Strangers, directed by Paul Schrader and based on Ian McEwan’s 1981 novel of the same name. The article centres upon Pinter’s creative adaptation of McEwan’s deeply allusive and disquieting text probing, amongst others, the intricacies and tensions of gender relations and sexual intimacy. It examines the screenplay-regarded by many critics as not merely an adaptation of the novel but another, very powerful work of art-addressing Pinter’s method as an adapter and highlighting the artist’s imaginative attempts at fostering a better appreciation of the connections between authoritarian impulses, love and justice. Similarly to a number of other Pinter filmscripts and plays of the 1980s and 1990s, the erotic and the lethal alarmingly intersect in this screenplay where the ostensibly innocent-an unmarried English couple on a holiday in Venice, who are manipulated, victimized and, ultimately, destroyed-are subtly depicted as partly complicit in their own fates. (shrink)

The struggle for domination clearly persists in The Homecoming as it does in almost all of Pinter’s works. Because of the vague atmosphere, enigmatic characters, and dark, tragicomic dialogue and action, a single decisive meaning for the play cannot be identified. Many character analyses have been carried out on the play, frequently focusing on Ruth and her decision at the end. Moreover, critics have sought to read the play in the light of psychoanalysis, centering on the characters’ past and (...) complexes. By adding a sociopolitical dimension to purely realistic or symbolic readings, this article attempts to analyze the relationships of domination and servitude between characters at the micro-level of the family structure through Marx’s notions of fetishism in relations between individuals, and commodity fetishism as expounded by Slavoj Žižek. With the help of Žižek’s ideas on ideology, a new layer of sociopolitical signification to the relationships held between characters is added, particularly that between Ruth and the men, which is seen as a parallel to the macro-level fetishized relationships in pre-capitalist societies and commodity fetishism in a capitalist one. (shrink)

Whereas the action of a representational or realist play is typically the product of careful dramatic construction involving motivations and conflict, Harold Pinter’s late play Ashes to Ashes assembles itself out of pure aporia and not knowing. The first lines of the play, for example, combine anxious questioning with slowly emergent knowledge about an event in the past:Well…for example…he would stand over me and clench his fist. And then he’d put his other hand on my neck and grip it (...) and bring my head towards him. His fist…grazed my mouth. And he’d say, “Kiss my fist.”And did you?Oh yes. I kissed his fist. The knuckles. And then he’d open his hand and give me the palm of his hand…to kiss…which I kissed.... (shrink)

Scolnicov highlights Harold Pinter as an experimental playwright who attempted to free the theatre from the legacy of realism, causality, and motivation.

In the cognitivist paradigm, metaphor's conceptual nature is investigated almost exclusively in its verbal manifestations. Research on nonverbal expressions of conceptual metaphors is still surprisingly scarce. Although some pioneering work has been done in the area of pictorial metaphor, the work has hitherto focused on specific instances of isolated metaphors. For better insight into the nature of conceptual metaphors, it is necessary to examine if they can be rendered pictorially and mixed-medially, and if so, what forms they could take. In (...) this case study, a structural metaphor from Ian McEwan's novel The Comfort of Strangers is analyzed and compared to its counterpart in the film that Paul Schrader based on the book. The article ends with suggestions for generalizations across different media, including a distinction between explicitly and implicitly signaled metaphors. (shrink)

Pinter’s play The Caretaker explores interpersonal tensions relating to terminal illness. This paper interrogates notions of care, suffering, ownership, dignity and the consequences of active intervention and inaction in two key sections of the play: Aston’s monologue concerning his own brutal treatment (active intervention) and Davies’s final rejection by the brothers who fail to provide accommodation and care (inaction). This interprofessional analysis combines theatrical and clinical perspectives to create insights which can enhance empathy improve decision-making in end of life (...) care and can inform the education of healthcare professionals. (shrink)