Download or read book Vague Language written by Joanna Channell and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1994 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a major descriptive study of linguistic vagueness. It argues that strategies for being vague constitute a key aspect of the communicative competence of the native speaker of English.

Download or read book Terrain Vague written by PATRICK BARRON and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-08-15 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As planners and designers have turned their attentions to the blighted, vacant areas of the city, the concept of "terrain vague," has become increasingly important. Terrain Vague seeks to explore the ambiguous spaces of the city -- the places that exist outside the cultural, social, and economic circuits of urban life. From vacant lots and railroad tracks, to more diverse interstitial spaces, this collection of original essays and cases presents innovative ways of looking at marginal urban space, with studies from the United States, Europe and the Middle East, from a diverse group of planners, geographers, and urban designers. Terrain Vague is a cooperative effort to redefine these marginal spaces as a central concept for urban planning and design. Presenting innovative ways of looking at marginal urban space, and focusing on its positive uses and aspects, the book will be of interest to all those wishing to understand our increasingly complex everyday surroundings, from planners, cultural theorists, and academics, to designers and architects.

Download or read book Unruly Words written by Diana Raffman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-02 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Unruly Words, Diana Raffman advances a new theory of vagueness which, unlike previous accounts, is genuinely semantic while preserving bivalence. According to this new approach, called the multiple range theory, vagueness consists essentially in a term's being applicable in multiple arbitrarily different, but equally competent, ways, even when contextual factors are fixed.

Download or read book William James and the Reinstatement of the Vague written by William J. Gavin and published by . This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recently, the work of philosopher-psychologist William James has undergone something of a renaissance. In this contribution to the trend, William Gavin argues that James's plea for the "reinstatement of the vague" to its proper place in our experience should be regarded as a seminal metaphor for his thought in general. The concept of vagueness applies to areas of human experience not captured by facts that can be scientifically determined nor by ideas that can be formulated in words. In areas as seemingly diverse as psychology, religion, language, and metaphysics, James continually highlights the importance of the ambiguous, the contextual, the pluralistic, or the uncertain over the foundational. Indeed, observes the author, only in a vague unfinished world can the human self, fragile as it is, have the possibility of making a difference or exercising the will to believe. Taking James's plea seriously, Gavin traces the idea of the vague beyond the philosopher's own texts. In "conversations" with other philosophers--including Peirce, Marx, Dewey, and, to a lesser extent, Rorty and Derrida--the author shows that a version of James's position is central to their thought. Finally, Gavin looks for the pragmatic upshot of James's plea, reaffirming the importance of the vague in two concrete areas: the doctor-patient relationship in medicine and the creation and experiencing of modern art. In conclusion, Gavin argues that James's work is itself vague, in a positive sense, and that as such it functions as a "spur" to the reader.

Download or read book Vague Direction written by Dave Gill and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-05-24 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: VAGUE DIRECTION: A 12,000 mile bicycle ride, and the meaning of life. Watch the book trailer on YouTube: https://youtu.be/L4qGBNJkr5c The road. A place to escape, learn, and grow. A place where experiences are had, and memories formed, all of which will stay with you forever. This is the story of a year long North American bicycle journey. After all, there's a lot that happens when you get burned out, quit your job, sell everything, and leave to ride a bike for thousands of miles on another continent. You learn a lot - about yourself, about the fascinating people you encounter along the way, and maybe, just maybe, about life itself. From guns to God, death to happiness, bears to isolation, murders to crashes, frustration to joy. This book will make you reconsider life's priorities - it tackles some of the big questions in an entertaining and relatable way, and it may just inject a wanderlust and sense of adventure into your everyday thoughts. Come along with Dave as he rides his bicycle for a year, for more than 12,000 miles around North America. Along the way, he consistently meets remarkable people (such as Singing Cowgirls, Hunters, Drug Dealers & Movie Directors), and has an unforgettable experience which we can all learn from. --- "A wake-up call to anyone sleepwalking through life..." Boneshaker Magazine "Different from most cycling epics in the best way. It's more personal, often hilarious, and sometimes heartwarming, and it'll make you want to start your own adventure..." Molly Hurford - Bicycling Magazine "You don't even need to be a cyclist to be enthralled in Dave's experiences and reflections. Told with pace and charm, a wonderful account of a grand adventure." Mark Beaumont - RTW Cycling World Record Holder & BBC Presenter

Download or read book Modelling and Reasoning with Vague Concepts written by Jonathan Lawry and published by Springer. This book was released on 2006-06-17 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume introduces a formal representation framework for modelling and reasoning, that allows us to quantify the uncertainty inherent in the use of vague descriptions to convey information between intelligent agents. This can then be applied across a range of applications areas in automated reasoning and learning. The utility of the framework is demonstrated by applying it to problems in data analysis where the aim is to infer effective and informative models expressed as logical rules and relations involving vague concept descriptions. The author also introduces a number of learning algorithms within the framework that can be used for both classification and prediction (regression) problems. It is shown how models of this kind can be fused with qualitative background knowledge such as that provided by domain experts. The proposed algorithms will be compared with existing learning methods on a range of benchmark databases such as those from the UCI repository.

Download or read book Vague Objects and Vague Identity written by Ken Akiba and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2014-03-18 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique anthology of new, contributed essays offers a range of perspectives on various aspects of ontic vagueness. It seeks to answer core questions pertaining to onticism, the view that vagueness exists in the world itself. The questions to be addressed include whether vague objects must have vague identity, and whether ontic vagueness has a distinctive logic, one that is not shared by semantic or epistemic vagueness. The essays in this volume explain the motivations behind onticism, such as the plausibility of mereological vagueness and indeterminacy in quantum mechanics and they offer various arguments both for and against ontic vagueness; onticism is also compared with other, competing theories of vagueness such as semanticism, the view that vagueness exists only in our linguistic representation of the world. Gareth Evans’s influential paper of 1978, “Can There Be Vague Objects?” gave a simple but cogent argument against the coherence of ontic vagueness. Onticism was subsequently dismissed by many. However, in recent years, researchers have become aware of the logical gaps in Evans’s argument and this has triggered a new wave of interest in onticism. Onticism is now widely regarded as at least a coherent view. Reflecting this growing consensus, the present anthology for the first time puts together essays that are focused on onticism and its various facets and it fills in the lacuna in the literature on vagueness, a much-discussed subject in contemporary philosophy.

Download or read book Communicating through Vague Language written by Peyman G.P. Sabet and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a comparative study of vague language based on naturally occurring data of L1 and L2 speakers in academic settings. It explores how L2 learners have diverse and culturally specific needs for vague language compared with L1s, and are generally vaguer.

Download or read book Vague The Great British Mistake written by Tom Vague and published by Bread and Circuses Publishing. This book was released on 2017-01-05 with total page 1038 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Vague" began, as it happened, a few months after "England's Dreaming" left off: in the post-punk diaspora of late 1979. Turning nineteen years old in sunny Salisbury, Tom Vague began by featuring local punk bands as well as all the major acts that passed through or nearby - the Banshees, the Cure, the Ruts, Joy Division, Red Krayola, the Gang of Four, Clash, Adam and the Ants. It wasn't a pure punk fanzine - it was too late for that - but matched punk irreverence with the overall feeling of experimentation that still existed at the end of the 1970's. Over the first few issues, "Vague" continued to work out the possibilities of independence - in all senses of the word - that had been pioneered in 1976 by Mark Perry (fanzines) and in 1977 by Buzzcocks and the Desperate Bicycles (seven inch records). The whole point about fanzines and DIY singles was that you didn't have to do what everyone else did. So "Vague" mixed up reviews with Perry Harris' cartoons and what Tom describes as 'stream of consciousness prose' that reflected the chaos and the intimacy of the moment. Vague followed the post-punk strands - from the Ants to Goth to Crass to Psychobillies and Positive Punks - through to the mid 80's, and Tom's commentary precisely dates the changes. In the notes for Issue 12, July 1982, he observes that 'it was around this time that the number of exaggerated Mac Curtis haircuts increased around London and Theatre of Hate indirectly started the punkabilly cult, which consisted of disillusioned young Ants fans and reformed punky types, largely Londoners. Suddenly everyone started to look like Kirk Brandon'. Tom Vague recorded the present without any thought to posterity. Because he noted the moment so thoroughly, he became a historian, providing a record of Punk's most obdurate and persistent strands. In documenting the chaos of the 1980's from within, he has preserved a forgotten narrative of that decade: not Live Aid, New Romantic Pop or Thatcher, but a dogged and anarchic strand of youth culture that persisted into the flowering of rave in the early 90's. This collection should be read by any serious enquirer into the period." (Jon Savage : 2017)

Download or read book Vague Language Explored written by J. Cutting and published by Springer. This book was released on 2007-01-30 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vague language ('bags of time', 'doing stuff', 'and all that') is an aspect of communicative competence of considerable social importance. This book examines its function. It spans genre analysis, critical discourse analysis, psycholinguistics and cross-cultural sociolinguistics, and suggests applications in TEFL and directions for future research.

Download or read book Vague Language Elasticity Theory and the Use of Some written by Grace Qiao Zhang and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-06-28 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Vague Language, Elasticity Theory and the Use of 'Some', Nguyet Nhu Le and Grace Qiao Zhang present the first comprehensive study of the word 'some', focusing on its elasticity. In particular, they consider how 'some' is both a quantifier and a qualifier, has positive or negative meanings, and has local and global interpretations. They show that the word is used across a meaning continuum and can be used to convey a range of states, including approximation, uncertainty, politeness, and evasion. Finally, they demonstrate that the functions of 'some' are also multi-directional and non-categorical, consisting of four major functions (right amount of information, mitigation, withholding information, and discourse management). Based on naturally-occurring classroom data of L1 (American English) and L2 (Chinese- and Vietnamese-speaking learners of English) speakers, Vague Language shows that L2 speakers used 'some' more than L1 speakers and explores the significance of this, particularly taking account of speakers' language ability and cultural backgrounds. While this book focuses on the single word 'some', the authors' discussion has important implications for language studies more generally, as they call for a rethinking of our approaches to language study and more attention to its elasticity.

Download or read book Terrain Vague written by Richard Meier and published by Wave Books. This book was released on 2000 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his debut volume, Richard Meier risks "an affront to the personal" by dismantling and reassembling the lyric "I." His poems demonstrate a dizzying grace while uncovering a terrain less vague than tremendously powerful. The emotional tenor of Meier's poems work with the strong intellect behind them to produce a captivating collection. Winner of the 2000 Verse Prize, selected by Tomaz Salamun.

Download or read book Statistics with Vague Data written by Rudolf Kruse and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph is an attempt to unify existing works in the field of random sets, random variables, and linguistic random variables with respect to statistical analysis. It is intended to be a tutorial research compendium. The material of the work is mainly based on the postdoctoral thesis (Ha bilitationsschrift) of the first author and on several papers recently published by both authors. The methods form the basis of a user-friendly software tool which supports the statistical inferenee in the presence of vague data. Parts of the manuscript have been used in courses for graduate level students of mathematics and eomputer scienees held by the first author at the Technical University of Braunschweig. The textbook is designed for readers with an advanced knowledge of mathematics. The idea of writing this book came from Professor Dr. H. Skala. Several of our students have significantly contributed to its preparation. We would like to express our gratitude to Reinhard Elsner for his support in typesetting the book, Jorg Gebhardt and Jorg Knop for preparing the drawings, Michael Eike and Jiirgen Freckmann for implementing the programming system and Giinter Lehmann and Winfried Boer for proofreading the manuscript. This work was partially supported by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. We are indebted to D. Reidel Publishing Company for making the pub lication of this book possible and would especially like to acknowledge the support whieh we received from our families on this project.

Download or read book A Brief History of Doom written by Richard Vague and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2019-03-25 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Financial crises happen time and again in post-industrial economies—and they are extraordinarily damaging. Building on insights gleaned from many years of work in the banking industry and drawing on a vast trove of data, Richard Vague argues that such crises follow a pattern that makes them both predictable and avoidable. A Brief History of Doom examines a series of major crises over the past 200 years in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan, and China—including the Great Depression and the economic meltdown of 2008. Vague demonstrates that the over-accumulation of private debt does a better job than any other variable of explaining and predicting financial crises. In a series of clear and gripping chapters, he shows that in each case the rapid growth of loans produced widespread overcapacity, which then led to the spread of bad loans and bank failures. This cycle, according to Vague, is the essence of financial crises and the script they invariably follow. The story of financial crisis is fundamentally the story of private debt and runaway lending. Convinced that we have it within our power to break the cycle, Vague provides the tools to enable politicians, bankers, and private citizens to recognize and respond to the danger signs before it begins again.

Download or read book Vaguely Defined Objects written by M. Wygralak and published by Springer. This book was released on 2007-11-23 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, an impetuous development of new, unconventional theories, methods, techniques and technologies in computer and information sciences, systems analysis, decision-making and control, expert systems, data modelling, engineering, etc. , resulted in a considerable increase of interest in adequate mathematical description and analysis of objects, phenomena, and processes which are vague or imprecise by their very nature. Classical two-valued logic and the related notion of a set, together with its mathematical consequences, are then often inadequate or insufficient formal tools, and can even become useless for applications because of their (too) categorical character: 'true - false', 'belongs - does not belong', 'is - is not', 'black - white', '0 - 1', etc. This is why one replaces classical logic by various types of many-valued logics and, on the other hand, more general notions are introduced instead of or beside that of a set. Let us mention, for instance, fuzzy sets and derivative concepts, flou sets and twofold fuzzy sets, which have been created for different purposes as well as using distinct formal and informal motivations. A kind of numerical information concerning of 'how many' elements those objects are composed seems to be one of the simplest and more important types of information about them. To get it, one needs a suitable notion of cardinality and, moreover, a possibility to calculate with such cardinalities. Unfortunately, neither fuzzy sets nor the other nonclassical concepts have been equipped with a satisfactory (nonclassical) cardinality theory.

Download or read book The Case for a Debt Jubilee written by Richard Vague and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-09-21 with total page 75 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We were drowning in in record levels of debt before the COVID-19 crisis, and we are now deluged in it. U.S. private-sector loans have tripled relative to income since 1950 – and government debt is also at an all-time high. Soaring debt burdens individuals, stifles growth, compounds inequality, and brings falling living standards for millions. Richard Vague’s new book argues that, contrary to mainstream assumptions, we cannot simply hope that the trend will correct itself. Mounting debt is a feature of our economic system, not a bug: debts perpetually grow and compound, polarizing and impoverishing economies if not overtly dealt with. He offers a detailed plan for how we can restructure a range of debts – such as student loans, auto loans, medical debt and more – and offer hard-pressed debtors a ‘jubilee’ now, not in some utopian future. Vague’s bold polemic contains a wealth of ideas that will free millions from modern-day debt peonage, reduce inequality and bring new vigor to the economy as it struggles to emerge from the pandemic.

Download or read book An Illustrated Business History of the United States written by Richard Vague and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An illustrated business history of the United States from colonial times to the present"--