In recent years the normativity of thought and meaning has been the subject of an extensive debate. What is at issue is whether intentionality has normative features, and if so, whether that constitutes a problem for naturalistic attempts to account for intentional phenomena. The origin of the debate is Saul Kripke’s interpretation of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, published in Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. Kripke claimed, on behalf of Wittgenstein, that dispositional accounts of linguistic meaning - accounts, i.e., which attempt to reduce semantic phenomena to facts about how speakers are disposed to employ words - fail to ground the factuality of semantic statements. From this, and other arguments, the far reaching conclusion was drawn by Kripke’s Wittgenstein that there are no semantic facts, that every application of a word is “a leap in the dark”. This position has become known as meaning scepticism. In the present essay, it will be argued that meaning scepticism is incoherent, but that the normativity argument is interesting in its own right. The development of the debate will be traced, primarily through detailed consideration of the writings of Paul Boghossian, who has shifted the focus from the normativity of linguistic meaning to that of belief. It will be contended that even though Boghossian’s attempt to locate a normativity of belief fails, there is a related form of normativity that has to do with the intrinsic badness of false beliefs. Also, suggestions made by Kripke regarding the normativity of intentions will be investigated, and related to contemporary arguments in the philosophy of rationality. The tentative conclusion is that there are some interesting kinds of normativity associated with the intentional, but of a somewhat different variety than those usually discussed.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur barns uppfattningar kring aggregationsformer som fenomen förändras genom några enkla aktiviteter med is (fast form), vatten (flytande form) och vattenånga (gasform) samt hur barnen skapar mening kring aggregationsformerna. Denna studie är gjord ur ett utvecklingspedagogiskt perspektiv, en gren ur fenomenografin. Metoden som använts är kvalitativa observationer i barngrupp och data har samlats in genom fältanteckningar. Barnen har observerats under två aktiviter; experimentet Från is till ånga och leken Molekylleken. Experimentetet genomfördes två gånger, en gång innan och en gång efter leken. I studien har 19 barn deltagit i åldrarna fyra till sex år. Studiens resultat visar en förflyttning i samtalet från att i första experimentet kretsa kring barnens tidigare erfarenheter till att under sista experimentet kretsa kring molekyler. Barnens förändrade uppfattningar uppstår i mötet med aktiviteterna och ett meningsskapande kan registreras. Studien visar alltså att barnens nya erfarenheter genom aktiviteterna får betydelse för deras uppfattningar av lärande objektet, aggregationsformer. Denna studie ger förskollärare förståelse för barnens meningsskapande kring aggregationsformer samt hur barnens begynnande kemikunskap kan ta sin början i förskolan. / The aim of this study is to see the perceptions that preschool children have about the aggregate states as a phenomena through some simple activities with ice (solid), water (liquid form) and water vapor (gas form) and how the children create meaning through the aggregate states. The theoretical perspective in this study is development pedagogic, a part of phenomenography. The used method is qualitative observation in a preschool group and the data is collected with notes. The children have been observed during two different activities; an experiment, From Ice to Vapor and a game, the Molecular game. The experiment took place twice, one time before the game and one time after. 19 children in the ages 4-6 years have been part of this study. The results show a movement of the conversation from the first experiment when they talked a lot about earlier experiences of water to the last experiment when the conversation was more about molecules. The children changed their perceptions in the meeting with the activities and they created meaning in relation to the aggregate states. The study also shows that the new experiences that the children receive through the activities are helping them with their perception of the object of learning, the aggregate states. This study gives preschool teachers an understanding of how children are creating meaning about aggregate states and how understanding of chemistry can take place in preschool.

Bakgrund: Vikten av att välja ett varumärkesnamn är stor. I marknadsföringslitteraturen finns det riktlinjer kring hur ett bra namn ska vara. Trots detta finns det ingen klarhet i hur riktlinjerna bör användas eller hur ett varumärkesnamnförslag faktiskt genereras. Problemformulering: Hur genereras ett meningsfullt och minnesvärt varumärkesnamn? Syfte: Att öka förståelsen för hur ett meningsfullt och minnesvärt varumärkesnamn kan genereras, genom att en namngenereringsmodell presenteras och utvärderas. Avgränsning: Rapporten avgränsas från teori som handlar om att sammankoppla flera varumärken som exempelvis teorier kring varumärkesutvidgning och varumärkesportfölj behandlar.   Metod: En deduktivforskningsdesign grundad på teorier kopplat till namngivning, vilka hämtades från både marknadsföringslitteratur och språkvetenskapslitteratur, och sedan samanställdes i en egen skapad modell. För att kunna testa teorin gjordes kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra respondenter som alla hade utfört varumärkesnamngivning, varav två med titeln namngivningskonsult. Slutsats: Modellen kan summeras vid att det finns två sträckor att ta sig över, den första ger fokus vid generering av betydelsefulla begrepp. På mitten av första sträckan finns delen semantisk mening innehållande en mängd underpunkter som kan användas för att generera betydelsefulla ord. Den andra sträckan ger fokus vid att modifiera begreppen för att skapa ett särskiljande namnförslag. På mitten av den andra sträckan finns delarna ljudsymbolism och minnesvärdhet, vilka innehåller sina egna underpunkter, som kan användas för att modifiera betydelseorden till förslag på varumärkesnamn på ett meningsfullt och minnesvärt sätt. De flesta punkterna inom delarna kan bekräftas men det finns vissa tveksamheter och kritiska punkter. / Background: The choice of a brand name is important. In the marketing literature there are guidelines to follow when creating a name, but it’s not clear how they shall be used.  Research question: How can a meaningful and memorable brand name be created? Purpose: To increase the understanding of how a meaningful and memorable brand name can be generated, by presentation and evaluation of a model for brand name creation.  Delimitations: The report does not take theories that involve linking brand names together, such as brand extension and brand portfolio, into account. Methodology: A deductive research design were an own brand name generation model, which was created and combined by theories from marketing literature and linguistics literature, was tested. Qualitative interviews were conducted with four respondents which all had experience from naming brands, which of two were naming consultants. The model was then tested against the data. Conclusion: The model can be summed up with two sections to cross, the first focuses on generating meaningful concepts. In the middle of the first section there is a step called semantic meaning, which contains a list of points that can be used to generate significant words. The second section provides focus on modifying concepts to generate distinctive name suggestions. In the middle of this second section there are two different steps, which are sound symbolism and memorability, with each have there own list with points which can be used to modify the meaningful concepts to brand name proposals. Most points can be confirmed in the test, but there are also some critical steps and points.

This thesis is an ethnographic examination of a local punk subculture. Its focus is the processes of meaning construction and subcultural identity formation and maintenance. Through in-depth interviews and on-site observations, the meanings of punk emerge in acts of social co-construction. An empirical analysis of the ways by which individuals define and explore what is involved and valued in a punk identity provides insight into this subculture. The concept of punk as a social practice is investigated discursively through interviews and documented discussions. My goal is to uncover thematic ideas, beliefs, and values in these interactions that form a matrix of interlocking cultural expressions, collectively creating a shared subcultural identity. As with any subculture, punk appears to be governed by a set of cultural codes and norms. The research reported here indicates that these themes are dominated primarily by knowledge displays and symbolic boundary maintenance.

According to many, the legal industry is currently suffering from a professionalism problem. The following dissertation is a response to the question, "What can be done about incivility in the practice of law in Florida?" It begins by exploring the literature examining ethics and professionalism, specifically focusing on the role communication plays in the production and reification of patterns of meaning and action. After contextualizing the professionalism problem socio-culturally and historically, the dissertation next provides an overview of some relevant aspects of the Coordinated Management of Meaning (a theoretical communication framework employed to help make sense of the existing state of affairs) and examines how legal scholars and practitioners can begin to communicate their way out of the problem. Following the literature review, the dissertation outlines four research questions and addresses the study's use of the World Cafe design principles and methodology for examining the "professionalism problem." Finally, the dissertation concludes by relating four key findings and an observation as well as addressing five ways in which the research has practical and theoretical implications. In embracing CMM to analyze the conversational patterns and practices of law as they relate to ethics and professionalism, this research theoretically aligns primarily with the sociocultural tradition with some critical and cybernetic overtones. While there are many ways one might examine the professionalism problem, CMM offers an exemplary lens with which to both analyze the problem and proffer a discursive pathway out of the problem. From a communication perspective, the problematics of ethics and professionalism in the practice of law can be understood to originate in the inherent polysemy of language and the incommensurability of moral orders deriving from alternative forms of communication.

I denna vetenskapliga essä har jag låtit mina tankar kring livsberättelser, möta författare,filosofer, psykologer och litteraturvetares, tankar om berättelsens makt i individens liv ochskapandet av identitet. Vilka berättelser väljer jag att berätta för andra och hur påverkar deberättelserna synen på mig själv? I denna essä, finns ett smakprov på hur jag i arbetet medindivider, använder mig av traditionella berättelser, som sagor, myter och legender, för attskapa en begriplig ram i en annars oordnad tillvaro. Jag uppmärksammar det faktum att flerasöker lösningar utanför sig själv, på det som tidigare sågs som ett ifrågasättande av livet. Jaghar tagit hjälp av forskning som har studerat förutsättningarna för mitt yrke och sett på mitteget lyssnade i samtal med hjälpsökande i en verksamhet där jag är starkt påverkad avmålstyrning. Hur påverkas mitt förhållningssätt till individen av de inre och yttre faktorerna imitt yrke som coach? Genom att bland annat utgå ifrån ett samtal med en ung kvinna har jagundersökt mitt förhållningssätt till det hon berättar för mig. / In this scientific essay I have let my thoughts on life stories, meet writers, philosophers, psychologists and literary scholars, on the story of power in the life of the individual and thecreation of identity. What stories do I tell others, and how do they affect the stories view ofmyself? In this essay, I give an example of my work with individuals, using traditional stories, as fairy tales, myths and legends, to create a meaningful framework in an otherwise disordered existence. I pay attention to the fact that many are seeking solutions outside themselves, on what previously was seen as a questioning of life. With the assistance of research which have studied the conditions of my own profession and seen from my ownlistening of conversations with individuals seeking aid in situations where I am strongly influenced by performance management. How is my approach to the subject of the internal and external factors in my profession as a coach? By including assumed a conversation with a young woman, I have examined my attitude to what she tells me.

Cinemascape: Durango is a portrait of “cinema” from the ethnographic perspective of Durango, a state in northern Mexico whose identity as Tierra del Cine is based on its history as a "location" for both Hollywood Westerns and the low-budget, Mexican action films known as churros. From the globally "marginal" vantage of Durango, it looks at how "cinema," as a mobile signifier transects and transforms seemingly disparate topics and spaces and becomes part of new cultural configurations and flows. These flows are both concretely economic, as in the transnational traffic in media products, and imaginary, as in changing senses of meaning and identity. It addresses cinema's manifestations and meanings in a variety of institutions and practices locally regarded as cinema-related. It includes chapters on everyday space and imagination; genre and "authoritarian" visual form; national and regional ideologies; and the specific careers and artistic production of two Durango filmmakers. Although production has diminished since the mid 1980s, due to the waning popularity of movie Westerns and the rise of video, "cinema" remains a powerful presence in Durango, palpable in discourses of nostalgia, hope and patrimony, as well as in material artifacts. It "exists" in bumper stickers that say "Durango, Tierra del Cine" and movie sets of Old West towns in various states of decay. One set has become a "real" town, with people living and working behind facades that say "Saloon" and "General Store." Another is now an amusement park. Others stand as decaying ghost towns. John Wayne had a ranch in Durango, and his image appears everywhere. The state tourist office is called "The Office of Tourism and Cinema." The particularity of Durango's cinematic terrain is evoked through a representational strategy of montage, organized by piling up "scenes" from everyday life, films and film history. Its aim is to show "cinema" as a point of connection within a broad social imaginary, working at different levels of specificity, and also "leaking." The dissertation is interdisciplinary in that it links culture to imagination (thus philosophy), media, art and literature (thus art history, cultural/film studies) and global capitalism (thus political economy, history, area studies). / text

本研究探討「工作意義」與「工作投入」之關聯性，並討論工作人員對於工作意義與工作投入是否受個人特質因素所影響。本研究問卷設計採用 Lee (1996) 修正的 Rokeach 價值項目為基礎，用來定義工作意義，個人特質部份以工作人員之性別、年齡、婚姻狀況、職位類別、業務類別、教育程度、工作與所學相關、工作年資，共計8項變項來驗證其工作意義是否會影響工作投入。 研究對象以新北市區公所之工作人員進行實證調查，調查所得資料採用SPSS統計套裝軟體對263份有效問卷統計分析，研究發現： 一、 個人特質中的「性別」、「年齡」、「婚姻狀況」、「業務類別」、「教育程度」、「工作年資」對工作意義有顯著差異。 二、 個人特質中的「年齡」、「婚姻狀況」、「教育程度」、「工作與所學相關」、「工作年資」對工作投入有顯著差異。 三、 「工作意義」與「工作投入」存在顯著正相關，顯示人們對工作的投入程度受到工作能幫助達成個人價值觀的程度所影響。 希望根據上述研究發現，使區公所工作人員瞭解對現任工作之工作意義為何，並清楚自己所重視之工作價值項目與目前工作投入之情況，進而可以依據所重視之工作價值，來找尋適合的工作內容與環境。同時，提供政府部門瞭解目前工作人員之工作意義與工作投入情況與其工作上之需求，於人力資源管理上作改善，增加工作人員工作投入程度，提升行政效能，亦可做為遴選新聘人員時之參考。 / This study investigates the relationship between " work meaning" and "job involvement", analyzing how employees’ personal characters influence their " work meaning" and "job involvement". The questionnaire takes Rokeach value items modified by Lee(1996) as the basement to define work meanings. Personal characters include gender, age, marital status, position, the category of occupation, level of education, the association between studying background and work, and seniority, totally eight variables are tested in the survey to know whether work meaning influences job involvement. Research objects are servants of district office, new taipei city government. Statistical software “SPSS” is used to analyze the survey data and the 263 valid questionnaires, the study found: 1. Personal characters include gender, age, marital status, the category of occupation, level of education, seniority are more likely to effect one’s work meaning. 2. Personal characters include age, marital status, level of education, the association between studying background and work ,and seniority are more likely to effect one’s job involvement. 3.Work meaning is positively and significantly correlated with job involvement. It shows that the more work can achieve one’s personal values the more he or she would like to involve. We hope the above findings can help the servants of district office to realize the work meaning of the present job, and pay attention to the value they place importance on. It can finally help them to meet suitable occupation and work conditions. At the same time, it provides government departments with what the employees’ real need, improves human resource management, and increases job involvement of civil servants. When the governments recruit, the study can also be used as a reference to find the satisfying employees.

This research proposes that design and visual thinking in combination with narrative theory contribute to enhance knowledge of innovation processes and support managers in their work. In particular, the focus is on the use of Storyboarding to support a better definition of a project’s brief. Innovation studies have shown that the initial phases of innovation processes (typically called the “front end of innovation”) are crucial for success. A proper definition of a brief, that occurs at the front of the front end, is therefore one of the most relevant events in innovation. This study investigates the early phases of innovation by developing and evaluating a new method for developing a brief. First, an explorative approach has been used in order to develop knowledge of challenges in the front end of innovation and how design thinking, visual thinking and narratives can bring new insights in teamwork. In this explorative search the use of case studies has been employed. Then, the explorative search has focused onthe use of Storyboarding as a tool for reflection, and in particular for igniting dynamics of framing and reframing of innovation problems. Finally, in order to create a deeper knowledge in the use of storyboarding three hypotheses has been evaluated, four experiments has been conducted with the involvement of more than 60 people defining innovation briefs. In these experiments, storyboarding (visual and narrative) has been used to support “thinking” that leads to the brief. In other words, storyboarding has been seen as a process to enable innovation teams to think differently or more precisely, rather than just a tool to represent or to communicate the brief. The experiments show that using storyboarding has effects that can support innovation management. First, storyboarding is useful if management wants to “stimulate” a reflection on meaning when developing a brief, i.e. when they want an innovation team to consider both utilitarian and emotional/symbolic factors in an innovation process. Second, Storyboarding brings a narrower focus, compared to traditional written briefs, within the “area of interest” brought up by management, which sometimes may be asked for when the organization is in search for reframing the direction of innovation. / Denna avhandling föreslår att design och visuellt tänkande i kombination med narrativ teori kan bidra till en bättre förståelse och ledning av innovationsprocesser. Framför allt med fokus på användningen av storyboarding för att stödja en bättre definition av ett projekts uppdragsbeskrivning, eller som det kallas en ”brief”. Tidigare innovationsforskning har visat att de inledande faserna av innovationsprocesser (vanligen kallad “the front end of innovation”) är av avgörande betydelse för att innovationer skall nå framgång. En ordentligt utformad ”brief”, formulerad tidigt, i de inledande faserna av innovationsprocessen är således en av de mest relevanta händelserna för framgångsrikt innovationsarbete. Denna forskning bidrar till kunskap i de tidiga faserna av innovationsprocessen genom att utveckla och utvärdera en ny metod för att utveckla en ”brief”, storyboarding. Först så har en explorativ metodik använts för att skapa förståelse för de tidiga faserna av innovation och hur metoder och teorier från design, visuellt tänkande och narrativ kan ge nya insikter i teamarbete. I denna explorativa del så har fallstudier använts som forskningsstrategi. Därefter så har mitt sökande efter förståelse fokuserats på användningen av storyboarding som ett verktyg för reflektion, och i synnerhet att formulera och omformulera inramningen av möjligheter för innovation. Slutligen, för att skapa en djupare förståelse av storyboarding, så har tre hypoteser utvärderats med hjälp av ett antal experiment med mer än 60 personers deltagande där team utvecklar en ”brief”. I dessa experiment så har Storyboarding använts för att stödja teamens “tänkande” för att utveckla en ”brief”. Med andra ord så har Storyboarding setts som en process för att möjliggöra för team att tänka annorlunda eller mer exakt, snarare än bara ett verktyg för att representera eller för att kommunicera en ”brief”. Experimenten visar att användningen av Storyboarding har ett antal effekter som kan stödja ledning av innovation. För det första kan vi se att Storyboarding kan vara användbart om man vill “stimulera” reflektion kopplat till innebörd (meaning) när man utvecklar en ”brief”, dvs. när man vill att ett team ska överväga både funktionella så väl som känslomässiga/symboliska faktorer i en innovationsprocess. För det andra så skapar storyboarding en ”smalare” definition, jämfört med traditionella skriftliga ”briefs”, inom det av ledningen valda fokusområde. Detta kan vara önskvärt när ledningen söker efter nya möjligheter för innovation.

The overall aim with this thesis is to describe and analyze women’s and men’s recovery processes. More specifically, the aim is to determine what women and men with experience of mental illness describe as contributing to the personal recovery process. The point of departure for the studies was 30 in-depth interviews conducted with 15 men and 15 women. The selection of interview subjects was limited to individuals who had been treated in 24-hour psychiatric care and diagnosed as having schizophrenia, psychosis, a personality disorder, or a bipolar disorder.   Four studies have been carried.  Study 1 was a baseline article that examined what people in recovery from mental illness outline as facilitating factors to their recovery. The results that emerged from that study indicated areas for further analysis to condense the understanding of the recovery process. In study 2 the similarities and the differences in recovery described by women and men were examined. In Study 3 women’s and men’s meaning-making with reference to severe mental illness facilitate the recovery process were studied. The forth study explored how peer-support contribute to women’s and men’s recovery from mental illness.   The results emphasize recovery from mental illness as a social process in which relationships play a key role in creating new identities beside the mental illness. For a majority of the participants meeting peers facilitated the recovery process. The participants described how peer support meant an end to isolation and became an arena for identification, connection, and being important to others. Throughout these recovery processes the impact of gender has been emphasized. The results from this thesis provide new insight into gender as an important factor in understanding the recovery processes. The results from the four studies emphasize the mental patient, the psychiatric interventions and the individual recovery strategies as being influenced by gender constructions.