Multivalent Semantics for Vagueness and Presupposition

Both the phenomenon of presupposition and that of vagueness have motivated the use of one form or another of trivalent logic, in which a declarative sentence can not only receive the standard values true (1) and false (0), but also a third, non-standard truth-value which is usually understood as ‘undefined’ (#). The goal of this paper is to propose a multivalent framework which can deal simultaneously with presupposition and vagueness, and, more specifically, capture their projection properties as well as their different roles in language. Now, there is a prima facie simple way of doing this, which simply consists in assimilating the two phenomena, and using an appropriate type of trivalent logic. On this view, we just need a compositional system that deals with the ‘undefined’ truth-value, and does not care about whether the source of undefinedness is ‘presuppositional’ or related to vagueness. I will argue that such a simple solution cannot succeed, and point out a number of desiderata that any successful approach must meet. I will then present and discuss two seven-valued semantics, inspired, respectively, by the Strong Kleene semantics and by supervaluationism, which meet these desiderata.     

Immigrants’ Transnational Entrepreneurial Activities: the Case of Ghanaian Immigrants in Canada

Immigrant entrepreneurship comes in two forms: domestic and transnational entrepreneurship. Domestic immigrant entrepreneurs depend on the host society for business success while transnational immigrant entrepreneurs depend on the contacts and partners in their countries of origin and other countries. In recent years, immigrants’ entrepreneurial activity has moved from the domestic to the transnational level because of the simultaneous business activities that such entrepreneurs conduct between their home and host countries. Transnational entrepreneurship has become one of the pathways that immigrants use to settle and integrate into the host society’s labor market, and at the same time contribute to their countries of origin. From this perspective, this paper explores the causes, nature, and practices of transnational entrepreneurial activities of Ghanaian immigrants in Canada. Using in-depth interviews and focus groups, the study finds that transnational entrepreneurship has become an essential strategy among Ghanaian immigrant entrepreneurs due to the large and growing number of immigrant communities and demand for ethnic products and services that are not produced in Canada. The study also finds that transnational entrepreneurship has become an avenue for immigrants to connect and create ties with Ghana and contribute to its economic development.     

Re‐Examining Machiavelli: A Three‐Dimensional Model of Machiavellianism in the Workplace

Machiavellianism has been studied extensively over the past 40 years as a personality characteristic that shares features with the manipulative leadership tactics Machiavelli advocated in The Prince. We introduce a new model of Machiavellianism based in organizational settings that is multidimensional, incorporating aspects not previously included in Machiavellianism scales. Our model consists of 3 factors: maintaining power, harsh management tactics, and manipulative behaviors. The results of 3 studies are summarized, discussing the development of these 3 factors and how they relate to individual‐difference and organizational variables.     

Reviewing policies on satellite broadcasts in east asia: New technology,political economy,and civil society

As an instrument of national integration, domestic television in many post-colonial countries has long neglected cultural minorities. Transnational television via newer satellite and cable technologies has been able to target cross-border ethnic groups which then constituted viable audience markets. Governments in Asia sought initially to control access to transnational broadcasts out of paternalistic nationalism, but audiences and entrepreneurs have circumvented such policies. Thus over the last decade the political economy of television in countries such as Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand have been transformed, though in differing ways. Belated media deregulation has often led to alliances between business and political elites. This paper argues that most policy developments in Asian television have been driven by business and government imperatives rather than by civil society involvement. Australia where he teaches marketing and international business. His eclectic research interests include the political economy of international communications, globalization/transnationalization strategies, cross-cultural dimensions in marketing and management, and ethical issues in post-industrial society. Prior to a 15-year academic career across four universities in the Asia-Pacific region, Amos worked for twelve years in multinational corporations, NGOs, and government.     

Ethical challenges in the COVID-19 research context: a toolkit for supporting analysis and resolution

ABSTRACTCOVID-19 is compromising all aspects of society, with devastating impacts on health, political, social, economic and educational spheres. A premium is being placed on scientific research as the source of possible solutions, with a situational imperative to carry out investigations at an accelerated rate. There is a major challenge not to neglect ethical standards, in a context where doing so may mean the difference between life and death. In this paper we offer a rubric for considering the ethical challenges in COVID-19 related research, in the form of an ethics toolkit for global research developed at the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with more than 200 global researchers from around the world. This toolkit provides a framework to support confrontation of ethical conflicts through the integrated and iterative analysis of Place, People, Principles and Precedents, throughout the research journey. Two case analyses are offered to exemplify the utility of the toolkit as a flexible and dynamic tool to promote ethical research in the context of COVID-19.