a comprehensive, somewhat Gricean theory of speech acts, including an account of communicative intentions and inferences, a taxonomy of speech acts, and coverage of many topics in pragmatics -/- .

Background: Informed consent is essential for the ethical conduct of clinical research and is a culturally sensitive issue. But, a measurable Chinese version of the scale to evaluate the informed consent process has not yet been explored in the existing literature. Research objectives: This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test the Chinese version of the Informed Consent Process Scale. Research design: Back-translation was conducted to develop the Chinese version of the questionnaire. A cross-sectional survey was administered, after which an (...) exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Participants: We recruited a total of 375 participants who had experience in signing an informed consent form within the previous 3 years in Taiwan. Ethical considerations: This study was approved by two Institutional Review Boards and the autonomy of the participants was respected. Findings: The Chinese version of the Informed Consent Process Scale is composed of three factors with 23 items showing evidence of acceptable reliability and validity. Three major factors were extracted and labeled: Factor 1 – ‘Understanding of the research’, Factor 2 – ‘Trust and confidence’ and Factor 3 – ‘Doubt and uncertainty’. The three factors accounted for is 52.954 of the total variance with Cronbach’s α of.917. Discussion and conclusion: The finding corroborates previous studies showing that participants had too little understanding on the informed consent forms they signed and implied the need to clarify the critical points in clinical research. The psychometric results indicated good internal consistency and validity for this newly constructed instrument, and it was found worthy of conducting further testing and application. (shrink)

Whilst the role of Maturation or M‐phase Promoting Factor (MPF) as a universal M‐phase regulator is well documented, much less attention has been paid to its role in nuclear transplantation experiments and especially to its influence upon remodelling of transplanted nuclei. There is currently wide acceptance that successful nuclear transplantation using differentiated nuclei is possible only in a cytoplasmic environment that is capable of inducing rapid nuclear de‐differentiation to a pronuclear‐like form. In this review our purpose is firstly, to outline (...) the conditions under which such remodelling can be induced, and secondly, to extend the debate to include a consideration of whether complete nuclear remodelling is an absolute necessity for clonal development. (shrink)

A new edition of a comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of language, substantially updated and reorganized. The philosophy of language aims to answer a broad range of questions about the nature of language, including “what is a language?” and “what is the source of meaning?” This accessible comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of language begins with the most basic properties of language and only then proceeds to the phenomenon of meaning. The second edition has been significantly expanded and reorganized, putting (...) the original content in a contemporary context and offering substantial new material, with extended discussions and entirely new chapters. After establishing the basics, the book discusses general criteria for an adequate theory of meaning, takes a first pass at describing meaning at an abstract level, and distinguishes between meaning and other related phenomena. Building on this, the book then addresses various specific theories of meaning, beginning with early foundational theories and proceeding to more contemporary ones. New to this edition are expanded discussions of Chomsky's work and compositional semantics, among other topics, and new chapters on such subjects as propositions, Montague grammar, and contemporary theories of language. Each chapter has technical terms in bold, followed by definitions, and offers a list of main points and suggested further readings. The book is suitable for use in undergraduate courses in philosophy and linguistics. Some background in philosophy is assumed, but knowledge of philosophy of language is not necessary. (shrink)

What is the simulation theory? Arguments for simulation theory Simulation theory versus theory theory Simulation theory and cognitive science Versions of simulation theory A possible test of the simulation theory.

Wie ist Kooperation möglich in einer Welt von Egoisten, in der es keine zentrale Autorität gibt? Axelrod entwickelt aus der Spieltheorie - auf der Basis des "Gefangenendilemmas" - eine verblüffende Lösung. Nicht die raffinierteste, auch nicht die aggressivste, nicht die sanfteste Strategie sichert langfristig Erfolg, sondern die grundsätzlich wohlwollende, aber stets vergeltungsbereite: TIT FOR TAT, "wie Du mir, so ich Dir". Axelrod schließt daraus, dass in der globalen arbeitsteiligen Wirtschaftsweise geradezu ein innerer Zwang zur Kooperation besteht. Gewinnbringende Kooperationen (...) sind für Unternehmen nützlicher als blinder Wettbewerb. (shrink)

The most striking example of Roman intervention in the affairs of mainland Greece between the Achaean and Mithridatic Wars is provided by an inscription now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. This stone bears the text of a letter to the city of Dyme in Achaea from a Roman proconsul named Q. Fabius Maximus, which describes his trial and sentencing of certain men of Dyme whom he had judged responsible for a recent disturbance in that city. One crux to be resolved (...) is chronological: A date of c. 115 b.c. has long been generally accepted, but recently evidence from another, still unpublished inscription has been thought to point to the year 144. Further, the letter of Fabius Maximus has long been held to exemplify the close supervision that most scholars, regardless of their position on the vexed question of Greece's formal status after 146, assume was exercised over Greece by Roman commanders in Macedonia from the time of the Achaean War. The document has also often been cited to bolster the claim that Rome pursued in second-century Greece a conscious policy of suppressing democracy or the political aspirations of the lower class. This is not, of course, the place for reassessment of these old, complex controversies. My purpose here is rather to show that interpretation of the letter of Fabius Maximus has not always been sufficiently mindful of the many obscurities of the text and, consequently, of the events that lie behind it; too often the great lacunae in our knowledge have been filled with assumptions that beg the questions that are under debate. (shrink)

Núñez and colleagues (2019) chronicle in extraordinary detail the “demise” of cognitive science, as it was first defined in the late 1970s. The problem is that their account, however accurate, misses the forest for the trees. Cognitive science circa 2019 is alive and well; it just has not followed the path anticipated by its founders over 40 years ago.

For the first time, readers are granted access to fifty years of the author's personal writings in this posthumous collection that includes previously unpublished texts, speeches, letters, interviews and private notes, as well as key excerpts from the multi-million-copy-selling classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

It was of course impossible for Mr. Miller within the limits of his paper to follow out all the implications of his position, and I merely want to raise some questions with regard to a few of the more important of these implications. If Plato assumed the role of historian, intent on giving an "accurate representation" of his characters in conversations that actually took place, it would clearly be incumbent on him to keep any independent philosophical interest of his own, (...) if he had any, completely out of the picture-his interest in philosophy was limited to reporting what Socrates, Protagoras, Gorgias, and the others had said on various subjects. Now, the only dialogues in which Socrates does not do the constructive thinking are a small group, consisting of the Sophist, Statesman, Timaeus, Critias, Laws, and Epinomis, written towards the end of Plato's life; but I am not certain whether Mr. Miller holds that these represent a continuance of the reporting function, or a sudden outburst of originality by Plato. The question that I would ask therefore is whether Mr. Miller's thesis would imply that Plato was merely an accurate reporter of other men's opinions either all his life or at least down to the last ten or fifteen years. (shrink)

Among monkeys and apes, both the recognition and classification of individuals and the recognition and classification of vocalizations constitute discrete combinatorial systems. One system maps onto the other, suggesting that during human evolution kinship classifications and language shared a common cognitive precursor.

-By way of introduction: An ancient tale retold, by R. M. MacIver.-The rule versus the cause; On deceiving the public for the public good, by L. Bryson. Fact, fiction, and reality, by F. E. Johnson. On the justifiable grounds of disobedience to law, by R. N. Baldwin. On the limits of justifiable disobedience, by F. L. Neumann. On the enlistment of dubious allies, by H. Simons. On "making friends with the mammon of unrighteousness," by L. Pope.-Some conflicts of our times: (...) The Hiroshima issue, by W. W. Waymack. Institutionalism and the faith, by L. Finkelstein. Freedom and interference in American education, by O. Tead. Private profit and public interest in mass communication, by R. Saudek. The threat to privacy, by H. D. Lasswell. (shrink)

Goofy is one of the most beloved and enduring members of the Disney family. In the course of A Goofy Movie, Goofy passes on to his son, Max, a fishing pole that is “been handed down from Goof to Goof to Goof.” Obviously, this pole is one of Goofy's prized possessions and he takes great pride in gifting it to Max. Unfortunately, in doing so, he violates Kant's categorical imperative, since the handing on of this pole is not something that (...) Goofy could mandate be done by everyone. He would not want Pete handing this rod to his son, PJ, since it is a Goof family heirloom. In considering why ordinary men and women start to wonder about ethical living, the authors used Goofy's example of humble but accident‐prone dedication to examine what constitutes success in moral decision‐making. (shrink)