Gone Primitive

Gone Primitive PDF

Author: Marianna Torgovnick

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 9780226808321

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In this acclaimed book, Torgovnick explores the obsessions, fears, and longings that have produced Western views of the primitive. Crossing an extraordinary range of fields (anthropology, psychology, literature, art, and popular culture),Gone Primitivewill engage not just specialists but anyone who has ever worn Native American jewelry, thrilled to Indiana Jones, or considered buying an African mask. "A superb book; and--in a way that goes beyond what being good as a book usually implies--it is a kind of gift to its own culture, a guide to the perplexed. It is lucid, usually fair, laced with a certain feminist mockery and animated by some surprising sympathies."--Arthur C. Danto, New York Times Book Review "An impassioned exploration of the deep waters beneath Western primitivism. . . . Torgovnick's readings are deliberately, rewardingly provocative."--Scott L. Malcomson,Voice Literary Supplement

Elicitation of Preferences

Elicitation of Preferences PDF

Author: Baruch Fischhoff

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-03-14

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9401714061

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Economists and psychologists have, on the whole, exhibited sharply different perspectives on the elicitation of preferences. Economists, who have made preference the central primitive in their thinking about human behavior, have for the most part rejected elicitation and have instead sought to infer preferences from observations of choice behavior. Psychologists, who have tended to think of preference as a context-determined subjective construct, have embraced elicitation as their dominant approach to measurement. This volume, based on a symposium organized by Daniel McFadden at the University of California at Berkeley, provides a provocative and constructive engagement between economists and psychologists on the elicitation of preferences.

The Primitive Origination of Mankind

The Primitive Origination of Mankind PDF

Author: Matthew Hale

Publisher:

Published: 1677

Total Pages: 406

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"This text explores mankind's origins, as considered and examined in light of nature, with particular emphasis on the following parts and assertions: I. That according to the light of nature and natural reason, the visible world was not eternal, but had a beginning; II. That if there could be any imaginable doubt thereof, yet by the necessary evidence of natural light it does appear that mankind had a beginning, and that the successive generations of men were in their original form; III. That this truth is evident by demonstrative reason and arguments; IV. That there are moral evidences of the truth of this assertion, which are herein particularly expanded and examined; V. That those great philosophers that asserted this origination of mankind, both ancient and modern, that rendered it by hypothesis different from that of Moses, were mistaken--here the hypotheses of Aristotle, Plato, and others are examined, and the absurdity and impossibility of their theories are detected; VI. That the current author's theory explaining the creation of man and of the world, in general, abstractly considered without relation to the divine inspiration of the writer, is according to reason, and preferable to the sentiments of other philosophers; and VII. That the author has concluded the whole of this work with certain corollaries and deductions, necessarily flowing from the things thus asserted, as well touching the existence, the wisdom, power, and providence of Almighty God, as touching both the duty and happiness of mankind"--Foreword. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Meta-metaphysics

Meta-metaphysics PDF

Author: Jiri Benovsky

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-03-22

Total Pages: 139

ISBN-13: 3319253344

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Metaphysical theories are beautiful. At the end of this book, Jiri Benovsky defends the view that metaphysical theories possess aesthetic properties and that these play a crucial role when it comes to theory evaluation and theory choice.Before we get there, the philosophical path the author proposes to follow starts with three discussions of metaphysical equivalence. Benovsky argues that there are cases of metaphysical equivalence, cases of partial metaphysical equivalence, as well as interesting cases of theories that are not equivalent. Thus, claims of metaphysical equivalence can only be raised locally. The slogan is: the best way to do meta-metaphysics is to do first-level metaphysics.To do this work, Benovsky focuses on the nature of primitives and on the role they play in each of the theories involved. He emphasizes the utmost importance of primitives in the construction of metaphysical theories and in the subsequent evaluation of them.He then raises the simple but complicated question: how to make a choice between competing metaphysical theories? If two theories are equivalent, then perhaps we do not need to make a choice. But what about all the other cases of non-equivalent "equally good" theories? Benovsky uses some of the theories discussed in the first part of the book as examples and examines some traditional meta-theoretical criteria for theory choice (various kinds of simplicity, compatibility with physics, compatibility with intuitions, explanatory power, internal consistency,...) only to show that they do not allow us to make a choice.But if the standard meta-theoretical criteria cannot help us in deciding between competing non-equivalent metaphysical theories, how then shall we make that choice? This is where Benovsky argues that metaphysical theories possess aesthetic properties – grounded in non-aesthetic properties – and that these play a crucial role in theory choice and evaluation. This view, as well as all the meta-metaphysical considerations discussed throughout the book, then naturally lead the author to a form of anti-realism, and at the end of the journey he offers reasons to think better of the kind of anti-realist view he proposes to embrace. www.jiribenovsky.org

Irish Modernism and the Global Primitive

Irish Modernism and the Global Primitive PDF

Author: C. Culleton

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2008-12-08

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0230617190

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book scrutinizes the way modern Irish writers exploited or surrendered to primitivism, and how primitivism functions as an idealized nostalgia for the past as a potential representation of difference and connection.

An Introduction to Constraint-Based Temporal Reasoning

An Introduction to Constraint-Based Temporal Reasoning PDF

Author: Roman Meir

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-05-31

Total Pages: 107

ISBN-13: 3031015673

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Solving challenging computational problems involving time has been a critical component in the development of artificial intelligence systems almost since the inception of the field. This book provides a concise introduction to the core computational elements of temporal reasoning for use in AI systems for planning and scheduling, as well as systems that extract temporal information from data. It presents a survey of temporal frameworks based on constraints, both qualitative and quantitative, as well as of major temporal consistency techniques. The book also introduces the reader to more recent extensions to the core model that allow AI systems to explicitly represent temporal preferences and temporal uncertainty. This book is intended for students and researchers interested in constraint-based temporal reasoning. It provides a self-contained guide to the different representations of time, as well as examples of recent applications of time in AI systems.

Escaping Paternalism

Escaping Paternalism PDF

Author: Mario J. Rizzo

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-12-05

Total Pages: 509

ISBN-13: 1108775667

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The burgeoning field of behavioral economics has produced a new set of justifications for paternalism. This book challenges behavioral paternalism on multiple levels, from the abstract and conceptual to the pragmatic and applied. Behavioral paternalism relies on a needlessly restrictive definition of rational behavior. It neglects nonstandard preferences, experimentation, and self-discovery. It relies on behavioral research that is often incomplete and unreliable. It demands a level of knowledge from policymakers that they cannot reasonably obtain. It assumes a political process largely immune to the effects of ignorance, irrationality, and the influence of special interests and moralists. Overall, behavioral paternalism underestimates the capacity of people to solve their own problems, while overestimating the ability of experts and policymakers to design beneficial interventions. The authors argue instead for a more inclusive theory of rationality in economic policymaking.

The Moral Dimensions of Public Policy Choice

The Moral Dimensions of Public Policy Choice PDF

Author: John Martin Gillroy

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre

Published:

Total Pages: 554

ISBN-13: 082297150X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Combining philosophy with practical politics, an expanding area of policy studies applies moral precepts, critical principles, and conventional values to collective decisions. This evolving new approach to policy analysis asserts that the same variety of ethical principles available to the individual are also available to make collective decisions in the public interest and should be used. Although policy analysis has long been dominated by assumptions originally developed for the examination of markets, such as efficiency, these essays by leading scholars - the best work done in the field over the past three decades - explore alternatives to the "market paradigm" and show how moral discrimination and choice can extend beyond the individual to encompass public decisions. Chapters by John Martin Gillroy and Maurice Wade review the political philosophies of Immanuel Kant and David Hume as backgrounds for the development of modern concepts of public policy choice. They present this anthology as a first step in codifying options, arguments, and methods within this important developing area of policy studies.