The Web Ontology Language, OWL, is the latest standard in logic based ontology languages. It is built upon the foundations of highly expressive Description Logics, which are fragments of First Order Logic. These logical foundations mean that it is possible to compute what is entailed by an OWL ontology. The reasons for entailments can range from fairly simple localised reasons through to highly non-obvious reasons. In both cases, without tool support that provides explanations for entailments, it can be very difficult or impossible to understand why an entailment holds. In the OWL world, justifications, which are minimal entailing subsets of ontologies, have emerged as the dominant form of explanation. This thesis investigates justification based explanation techniques. The core of the thesis is devoted to defining and analysing Laconic and Precise Justifications. These are fine-grained justifications whose axioms do not contain any superfluous parts. Optimised algorithms for computing these justifications are presented, and an extensive empirical investigation shows that these algorithms perform well on state of the art, large and expressive bio-medical ontologies. The investigation also highlights the prevalence of superfluity in real ontologies, along with the related phenomena of justification masking. The practicality of computing Laconic Justifications coupled with the prevalence of non-laconic justifications in the wild indicates that Laconic and Precise justifications are likely to be useful in practice. The work presented in this thesis should be of interest to researchers in the area of knowledge representation and reasoning, and developers of reasoners and ontology editors, who wish to incorporate explanation generation techniques into their systems.

<p>Previous research into accounts--the statements that people make to explain undesirable behavior--has looked at either the target's reactions to accounts or the transgressors' account strategies, but has not looked at these together. In four studies, participants were assigned to the role of a transgressor (the person providing a post-transgression account) or a target. Transgressors' use of accounts--excuses, justifications, and exceptions--and their post account expectations for how they and the target would react was measured. These transgressor ratings were then compared to the account preferences and reactions (evaluative and punitive) of the targets who actually read the accounts. Targets whose account preferences were matched were expected to react more positively and to inflict lesser penalties on transgressors than those whose preferences were not matched. Results showed that transgressors were fairly inaccurate in their estimations of target reactions, and did not tend to match the account preferences of their targets. However, some evidence emerged to suggest that targets did generally react positively when their account preferences were matched. Furthermore, the domain of the transgression (whether it was a moral, environmental, religious, or interpersonal transgression) affected the strength and direction of these effects.</p> / Dissertation

L’ Answer Set Programming (ASP) est un formalisme capable de représenter des connaissances en Intelligence Artificielle à l’aide d’un programme logique au premier ordre pouvant contenir des négations par défaut. En quelques années, plusieurs solveurs performants ont été proposés pour calculer les solutions d’un programme ASP que l’on nomme answer sets.Nous nous intéressons ici plus particulièrement au solveur ASPeRiX qui instancie les règles au premier ordre à la volée durant le calcul des answer sets. Pour réaliser cela, ASPeRiX applique un chaînage avant sur les règles à partir de littéraux précédemment déterminés.L’étude de ce solveur nous amène notamment à considérer la notion de justification dans le cadre d’une approche de calcul d’ answer sets basée sur les règles. Les justifications permettent d’expliquer pourquoi certaines propriétés sont vérifiées. Parmi celles-ci, nous nous concentrons particulièrement sur les raisons d’échecs qui justifient pourquoi certaines branches de l’arbre de recherche n’aboutissent pas à un answer set.Cela nous conduit à implémenter une version d’ ASPeRiX proposant du backjumping qui évite de parcourir systématiquement toutes les branches de l’arbre de recherche grâce aux informations fournies par les raisons d’échecs. / Answer set programming (ASP) is a formalism able to represent knowledge in Artificial Intelligence thanks to a first order logic program which can contain default negations. In recent years, several efficient solvers have been proposed to compute the solutions of an ASP program called answer sets. We are particularly interested in the ASPeRiX solver that instantiates the first order rules on the fly during the computation of answer sets. It applies a forward chaining of rules from literals previously determined. The study of this solver leads us to consider the concept of justification as part of a rule-based approach for computing answer sets. Justifications enable to explain why some properties are true or false. Among them, we focus particularly on the failure reasons which justify why some branches of the search tree does not result in an answer set. This encourages us to implement a version of ASPeRiX with backjumping in order to jump to the last choice point related to the failure in the search tree thanks to information provided by the failure reasons.

L’objectif de la recherche est l’interprétation de l’agir des dirigeants de PME face au développement durable. Alors, l’interprétation est considérée par cette recherche comme un processus dialectique entre l’explication et la compréhension. Pour expliquer l’agir, nous avons choisi la théorie des représentations sociale et pour le comprendre, nous avons opté pour la théorie de l’économie des grandeurs. La problématique de la recherche tâche d’analyser les liens entre représentations, agir et justifications du développement durable chez les dirigeants de riads maison d’hôtes à Marrakech. Les résultats obtenus montrent l’existence d’une cité écologique et confirment les difficultés du développement durable à se présenter comme ordre de justification de l’action. / The objective of the research is the interpretation of the action of SME managers in the face of sustainable development. Then, interpretation is considered by this research as a dialectical process between explanation and comprehension. To explain the action, we chose the theory of social representations and to understand it, we opted for the theory of the economy of quantities. The research problematic seeks to analyze the links between representation, action and the justification of sustainable development among the riads' leaders in Marrakech. The results obtained show the existence of an ecological city and confirms the difficulties of sustainable development to present itself as an order of justification of the action.

Cette thèse s’articule autour de trois essais liés par la thématique des réformes récentes de séparation des activités bancaires. Le premier essai examine les décisions réglementaires dans le cadre de la réforme française de séparation bancaire. En s’appuyant sur les théories des logiques institutionnelles et de la justification, cette étude de cas montre comment un découplage des logiques institutionnelles se justifie dans une situation de controverse publique.En adoptant la méthodologie d’étude d’évènements, le deuxième essai analyse les réactions des investisseurs liées aux réformes de séparation des activités bancaires en Allemagne, aux Etats-Unis, en France et en Grande Bretagne. En se basant sur les théories du maintien institutionnel et l’endogénéisation de loi, le troisième et dernier essai de cette thèse étudie le processus d’élaboration de la réforme de séparation bancaire au niveau de l’UE, qui n’a pas été mise en oeuvre. / This thesis consists of three essays on recent post-crisis structural banking reforms. The first essay examines regulatory decision-making in the national context, namely regarding the French structural banking reform. Drawing on the theories of institutional logics and orders of worth, this case study shows how decoupling institutional logics is justified in a situation of public controversy. Adopting event study methodology, the second essay analyses stock price reactions to the US Volcker Rule, the UK Vickers Reform as well as the German and French structural banking reforms. Relying on the theories of institutional maintenance work and endogenization of law, the third and final essay of this dissertation investigates the rule-making process of the EU structural banking reform which did not lead to any final regulation.

Under what conditions does an ordinary citizen find it justified for an individual to engage in rebellion-related political actions? Though there is a large body of literature on rebel participation phenomenon, little is known about how ordinary citizens react to the motivations of rebels highlighted by the scholars. This research aims to address this gap by focusing on three generic sources of motivation for rebel participation: economic or political grievances, selective incentives, and indiscriminate violence. It is theorized that identification with a rebel candidate’s social group and the gender of this person would both affect individuals’ indicated justification levels for rebellion-related political actions. Through a self-administered survey conducted online by 309 participants from the United States, the theoretical expectations have been examined and while it turns out that the gender of a rebel candidate is not a decisive factor, the explanations based on identification with the rebel candidate’s social group has been partially supported in the study. Further research focusing on other sources of motivation for rebels is encouraged to assess the extent to which the proposed causal mechanism applies beyond the explanations for rebel participation taken in this study.

Between the 1950s and late 1990s the Swedish armed forces prepared for an invasion from the Soviet Union. However, after the cold war, the conditions changed, and the perceived threat slowly faded away. In lack of threats against the Swedish sovereignty, Swedish armed forces changed strategy. It led to extensive cuts in the Swedish army’s capability to defend the Swedish territory. The more extensive changes began in the late 1900s and in 2015, the Swedish government declared a military re-armament. This study is a comparative study of the justifications from the Swedish government for the changes in military capability. The propositions behind the defense acts of 2000, 2004, 2009 and 2015 represents the analysis material of this study. This study shows that the development of the security policy constituted the main justification for the disarming, as well as the military re-armament. The Swedish government has adapted its military capabilities according to how Russia has been acting militarily. The adaption has been made with respect to Russia’s current military capability. Thus, future changes in the Russian military strategy has been miscalculated. In addition to how Russia has been acting, disarmament has also been affected by other factors such as economy, culture and technology. The re-armament has also been affected by the defense’s low operational ability and increased need for cooperation capacity.

O presente trabalho versa sobre as narrativas e justificativas relativas ao processo de criação de um mercado de financiamentos coletivos no Brasil a partir de diversos interlocutores: criadores de projetos, criadores de websites e a partir da literatura acadêmica mais comum sobre o tema. Busca-se retratar e discutir a criação deste mercado a partir do estabelecimento de um passado e de uma pedagogia, típicas dos circuitos de consumo relativos ao fenômeno dos crowdfunding, de modo a circunscrever o que meus interlocutores chamam de “cultura do financiamento coletivo”. Este mercado constitui-se em um duplo processo de afastamento e aproximação entre plataformas como forma de delimitar moralmente o que “deve”, ou não, ser este fenômeno. Tal processo revela a emergência de controvérsias, agenciamentos e, principalmente, de sujeitos como “empreendedores” que buscam “fazer a diferença” a partir de projetos e plataformas de financiamento coletivo. No limite, os financiamentos coletivos alinham-se à elaboração de justificativas críticas sobre o papel do Estado e de empresas na constituição dos mercados, ainda que reiterem práticas comuns no campo empresarial, como a manipulação publicitária e a tentativa de criação de vínculos – ou attachments – com o público alvo. Assim, doação e pré-compra confundem-se, bem como as motivações para criação de projetos de financiamento coletivo. Teoricamente, este trabalho sustenta-se nas digressões da Sociologia Pragmática de Luc Boltanski e da compreensão sobre mercados oriunda da Sociologia e Antropologia, principalmente inspirada nos escritos de Michel Callon e Jens Beckert. Busca-se contribuir para o campo da Antropologia a partir da discussão sobre o processo de criação de mercados a partir dos sujeitos que dele fazem parte e de suas narrativas. / This dissertation discusses the narratives and justifications related to the process of creating a market for crowdfunding in Brazil based on the people who create projects and websites, mainly, as well as the most common literature in the field. We intend to portray and discuss the establishment of this market through its past and pedagogy, typical of circuits of commerce in Crowdfunding whose actors intend to circumscribe what they call as a “Crowdfunding culture”. This market is comprised of a double-movement of approximation and distance among platforms as a way to morally determine what is supposed to be a Crowdfunding and what is not supposed to be. This process reveals the emergence of controversies, agencies and, mainly, entrepreneurial subjects that aim at “making the difference” through Crowdfunding platforms and projects. Ultimately, the Crowdfunding is related to the creation of critical justification on the role of the Government and Private sector in the constitution of markets, even if Crowdfunding itself recall common corporate practices as communication strategies, for instance, which aim at creating attachments with the target audience. Therefore, donation and pre-buying mechanisms overlap, as well as the motivations to create such projects. Theoretically, this work is supported by the Pragmatic Sociology of Luc Boltanski and the comprehension of markets based on Sociology and Anthropology, mainly inspired by the point of view of Michel Callon and Jens Beckert. This dissertation intends to contribute to Anthropology by discussing the process of market creation from the point of view of the subjects that work in it and its narratives.

Much research has been conducted in the past 25 years related to the teaching and learning of proof in Euclidean geometry. However, very little research has been done focused on preservice secondary school mathematics teachers’ notions of proof in Euclidean geometry. Thus, this qualitative study was exploratory in nature, consisting of four case studies focused on identifying preservice secondary school mathematics teachers’ current notions of proof in Euclidean geometry, a starting point for improving the teaching and learning of proof in Euclidean geometry. The unit of analysis (i.e., participant) in each case study was a preservice mathematics teacher. The case studies were parallel as each participant was presented with the same Euclidean geometry content in independent interview sessions. The content consisted of six Euclidean geometry statements and a Euclidean geometry problem appropriate for a secondary school Euclidean geometry course. For five of the six Euclidean geometry statements, three justifications for each statement were presented for discussion. For the sixth Euclidean geometry statement and the Euclidean geometry problem, participants constructed justifications for discussion. A case record for each case study was constructed from an analysis of data generated from interview sessions, including anecdotal notes from the playback of the recorded interviews, the review of the interview transcripts, document analyses of both previous geometry course documents and any documents generated by participants via assigned Euclidean geometry tasks, and participant emails. After the four case records were completed, a cross-case analysis was conducted to identify themes that traverse the individual cases. From the analyses, participants’ current notions of proof in Euclidean geometry were somewhat diverse, yet suggested that an integration of justifications consisting of empirical and deductive evidence for Euclidean geometry statements could improve both the teaching and learning of Euclidean geometry.

O presente trabalho versa sobre as narrativas e justificativas relativas ao processo de criação de um mercado de financiamentos coletivos no Brasil a partir de diversos interlocutores: criadores de projetos, criadores de websites e a partir da literatura acadêmica mais comum sobre o tema. Busca-se retratar e discutir a criação deste mercado a partir do estabelecimento de um passado e de uma pedagogia, típicas dos circuitos de consumo relativos ao fenômeno dos crowdfunding, de modo a circunscrever o que meus interlocutores chamam de “cultura do financiamento coletivo”. Este mercado constitui-se em um duplo processo de afastamento e aproximação entre plataformas como forma de delimitar moralmente o que “deve”, ou não, ser este fenômeno. Tal processo revela a emergência de controvérsias, agenciamentos e, principalmente, de sujeitos como “empreendedores” que buscam “fazer a diferença” a partir de projetos e plataformas de financiamento coletivo. No limite, os financiamentos coletivos alinham-se à elaboração de justificativas críticas sobre o papel do Estado e de empresas na constituição dos mercados, ainda que reiterem práticas comuns no campo empresarial, como a manipulação publicitária e a tentativa de criação de vínculos – ou attachments – com o público alvo. Assim, doação e pré-compra confundem-se, bem como as motivações para criação de projetos de financiamento coletivo. Teoricamente, este trabalho sustenta-se nas digressões da Sociologia Pragmática de Luc Boltanski e da compreensão sobre mercados oriunda da Sociologia e Antropologia, principalmente inspirada nos escritos de Michel Callon e Jens Beckert. Busca-se contribuir para o campo da Antropologia a partir da discussão sobre o processo de criação de mercados a partir dos sujeitos que dele fazem parte e de suas narrativas. / This dissertation discusses the narratives and justifications related to the process of creating a market for crowdfunding in Brazil based on the people who create projects and websites, mainly, as well as the most common literature in the field. We intend to portray and discuss the establishment of this market through its past and pedagogy, typical of circuits of commerce in Crowdfunding whose actors intend to circumscribe what they call as a “Crowdfunding culture”. This market is comprised of a double-movement of approximation and distance among platforms as a way to morally determine what is supposed to be a Crowdfunding and what is not supposed to be. This process reveals the emergence of controversies, agencies and, mainly, entrepreneurial subjects that aim at “making the difference” through Crowdfunding platforms and projects. Ultimately, the Crowdfunding is related to the creation of critical justification on the role of the Government and Private sector in the constitution of markets, even if Crowdfunding itself recall common corporate practices as communication strategies, for instance, which aim at creating attachments with the target audience. Therefore, donation and pre-buying mechanisms overlap, as well as the motivations to create such projects. Theoretically, this work is supported by the Pragmatic Sociology of Luc Boltanski and the comprehension of markets based on Sociology and Anthropology, mainly inspired by the point of view of Michel Callon and Jens Beckert. This dissertation intends to contribute to Anthropology by discussing the process of market creation from the point of view of the subjects that work in it and its narratives.