Argument in a Nutshell: Condensation as a Transfiguring Mechanism in Argumentative Discourse

Although not generally regarded as a significant area of inquiry, the condensation of argumentative structures and the presence of `miniaturized' yet self-sufficient arguments in stand-alone, sub-discursive linguistic units, especially those below the level of a compound sentence, deserve a close look. Built skillfully into key words, catchy phrases, subtly appealing tropes, etc., these condensed arguments are often instrumental in accounting for the way some small linguistic units work magic on the audience. Taking such mini structures seriously holds two promises for argumentation studies: a widened scope of investigation and a unique contribution to the understanding of how rhetorical effects are being produced at the sub-syntactic or lexical level.     

中国传统美学的当代意义

本文分析了中国古典关学中一些颇具现代性(甚至后现代性)的思想传统,并与西方现代派和后现代派的观点进行比较,试图说明某些西方现代文艺思潮中表现出来的现代意识和审美特点,在中国古人那里就已经存在了。换言之,西方现代文艺理论与实践中的许多新尝试很接近中国传统关学中的思考。这里主要讨论几方面：1．对相关性的重视;2．轻视模仿再现,重视创新与表现;3．流动的空间与时间意识。     

The ideal scaffolding of language: Husser's fourth Logical Investigation in the light of cognitive linguistics

One of the central issues in linguistics is whether or not language should be considered a self-contained, autonomous formal system, essentially reducible to the syntactic algorithms of meaning construction (as Chomskyan grammar would have it), or a holistic-functional system serving the means of expressing pre-organized intentional contents and thus accessible with respect to features and structures pertaining to other cognitive subsystems or to human experience as such (as Cognitive Linguistics would have it). The latter claim depends critically on the existence of principles governing the composition of semantic contents. Husserl's fourth Logical Investigation is well known as a genuine precursor for Chomskyan grammar. However, I will establish the heterogeneous character of the Investigation and show that the whole first part of it is devoted to the exposition of a semantic combinatorial system cognate to the one elaborated within Cognitive Linguistics. I will thus show how theoretical results in linguistics may serve to corroborate and shed light on those parts of Husserl's Fourth Investigation that have traditionally been dismissed as vague or simply ignored.     

心理学研究本土文化取向的理论与实践

经由本地化研究建立本土心理学的呼声,自20世纪80年代以来,在两岸三地即已时有所闻．惟对“本土”或“本地化”的概念并不明确。到90年代末期台湾部分心理学家提出三地论的概念^[3],认为港、台、大陆三地因长期隔离,社会形态各异,故而主张三地华人社会的心理学者应各自建立自己的本土心理学(台湾本土心理学、大陆本土心理学、香港本土心理学)。此种纯以地区为前提的心理学研究取向有待商榷．原因是如将心理学视为研究人性特质的科学。并将心理与行为视为人性特质的表徽。显而易见的是,影响心理与行为的文化因素大于地区因素。基于此义．本文提出采用心理学研究本土文化取向的建议．并试从心理学思想的演变中分析探讨此一建议的合理性。一得之愚尚请学界先进批评指教。     

西方伦理学研究视野和考察视角的滚动式拓展

西方伦理学的研究视野和考察视角随其历史的演进而滚动式地拓展。在希腊罗马伦理学中 ,只有哲学视野 (含存在论、认识论、人性论、生存论等视角 )。在中世纪基督教伦理学中 ,神学视野 (含神性论、神人关系论、灵魂论等视角 )统辖哲学视野。在近代西方伦理学中 ,哲学视野是脊梁 ,心理学视野 (以情感论视角为主 )和神学视野为两翼 ,而其他诸视野———如政治学的、历史学的、生物学的视野———充当侧肢。在现代西方伦理学中 ,哲学视野 (在原有视角之外新增价值论等视角 )、语言学视野 (含语义学、语用学等视角 )、心理学视野 (在原有视角之外新增潜意识论、发生认识论、需要—动机论、环境—行为论等视角 )和神学视野四强争雄的格局呈现出来 ,其他诸视野———生物学的、人类学的、经济学的、政治学的、历史学的、社会学的视野———则扮演配角。研究视野和考察视角的不断拓展为西方伦理学的发展提供了广泛的可能性。     

色觉疲劳、语义饱和对颜色范畴知觉的即时影响

颜色范畴知觉究竟是语言的还是知觉的, 或两者交互引起的认知冲突所致仍在探究与争议之中。本研究采用色觉疲劳和语义饱和操作分别独立地改变知觉或语义加工, 观察二者对颜色范畴知觉效应的即时影响, 以期探究语言和知觉对颜色范畴的作用。结果显示, 色觉疲劳操作导致范畴间颜色辨别反应时减少, 颜色范畴效应增强。语义饱和操作导致被饱和颜色词所属的范畴内颜色辨别反应时增加, 颜色范畴效应增强。说明单独改变知觉或语义加工能力均能影响CCP效应, 支持了语言标签对比模型, 即语言与知觉的交互作用引起颜色范畴知觉的观点。     

Do adapted vignettes improve medical decision‐making capacity for individuals with Alzheimer's disease?

Medical decision‐making capacity (MDC) is known to decline in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The vignette method uses hypothetical information as a prerequisite for measuring the capacity to make well‐informed decisions to clinical trials. Our aim was to investigate if adapted vignettes can help individuals with mild AD to assimilate information, make decisions and express them in an understandable way, compared to corresponding decisions based on linguistically more demanding vignettes, as measured by the Swedish Linguistic Instrument for Medical Decision‐making (LIMD). Two vignettes from LIMD were altered linguistically with the aim to facilitate understanding for individuals with AD. An experimental within‐subject design was used to study the influence on MDC of readability (original/adapted vignettes) and content (two different clinical trials). We included 24 patients with mild AD in this prospective study, which read all four vignettes along with a few other tests. This allowed us to investigate the association between MDC and cognitive function. Adapted vignettes did not yield significant differences regarding MDC as compared with original vignettes using a two‐way repeated measures analysis of variance. A difference was found between the two clinical trials where LIMD score was significantly higher for Kidney disease than hypertension vignettes. Our results indicate that adapted vignettes may not improve MDC for individuals with mild AD. MDC was affected by which clinical trial the vignettes regarded, which implies that other factors affecting MDC need to be investigated, like length of text and vocabulary used.     

Diaries of significant events: socio-linguistic correlates of therapeutic outcomes in patients with addiction problems

The principles of narrative therapy imply that autobiographical diaries written by patients in treatment will not only facilitate but also elucidate progress. The relationship between the linguistic content of diaries and progress in treatment was examined in this study. Complete sets of daily diaries of ‘significant events’ written by 16 patients receiving treatment for drug, alcohol and food addictions at a residential centre, using the 12-step approach of the Anonymous fellowships, were typed up for analysis. Three forms of socio-linguistic enquiry were employed: narrative characterization; evaluative statement coding and computer analysis of word strategies. Results indicated that success in treatment as rated by counselling and psychiatric staff was associated with the following characteristics of diary narratives. They are (a) focused on individual progress, whether adopting a ‘positive interpretative’ or ‘negative reactive’ style; (b) less critical of self over time and more positive about others external to the treatment centre; (c) both positive about the treatment programme and critical of self; (d) using words indicative of ‘insight’ and ‘negativity’ as assessed by Pennebaker's LIWC programme. It is concluded that autobiographical material can usefully be employed to assess progress in treatment, and that its intrinsic value in effecting change should be further explored. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Henry M. Sheffer and Notational Relativity

Charles L. Dodgson's reputation as a significant figure in nineteenth-century logic was firmly established when the philosopher and historian of philosophy William Warren Bartley, III published Dodgson's ‘lost’ book of logic, Part II of Symbolic Logic, in 1977. Bartley's commentary and annotations confirm that Dodgson was a superb technical innovator. In this paper, I closely examine Dodgson's methods and their evolution in the two parts of Symbolic Logic to clarify and justify Bartley's claims. Then, using more recent publications and unpublished letters, I argue that Dodgson approached the elimination problem in class logic differently than his contemporaries, and in doing so, anticipated several important concepts and techniques in automated deductive reasoning. These materials also provide additional insight into his reasons for writing this book.