This dissertation consists in a defence of the claim that belief is a state on which its bearer can reflect only deliberatively. That partial characterization of the concept is intended to throw light on the status of belief as a rational phenomenon. I defend it by appeal to features of our actual and imagined practices of ascribing belief linguistically, both to others and ourselves. Having set out the characterization in the first of four chapters, in the second chapter I survey the ways of learning from words: evidentially, by report, and by belief-expression. I go on to propose that where a person’s words afford belief of his belief, they do so through the belief-expressive character of assertoric speech. In the third chapter, I defend that claim as it applies to the case of ascribing belief to another. I argue that my characterization best explains the fact that we do not ordinarily report our beliefs or invite others to do so. I explain our ordinarily ascribing belief from the expressive character of assertoric speech by appeal to the relation between assertion and belief. In the fourth chapter, I turn to the prospect of ascribing oneself belief based on one’s own words. I argue that self-ascribing belief through the expressive character of words is alone consistent with the self-ascriber’s basic psychological and linguistic integrity. I recommend my characterization of belief for its capacity to explain the disintegrating effects of self-ascribing belief by one’s own report. I again appeal to the relation between assertoric speech and belief to explain the feasibility of self-ascribing belief through the expressive character of one’s words.

This dissertation consists in a defence of the claim that belief is a state on which its bearer can reflect only deliberatively. That partial characterization of the concept is intended to throw light on the status of belief as a rational phenomenon. I defend it by appeal to features of our actual and imagined practices of ascribing belief linguistically, both to others and ourselves. Having set out the characterization in the first of four chapters, in the second chapter I survey the ways of learning from words: evidentially, by report, and by belief-expression. I go on to propose that where a person’s words afford belief of his belief, they do so through the belief-expressive character of assertoric speech. In the third chapter, I defend that claim as it applies to the case of ascribing belief to another. I argue that my characterization best explains the fact that we do not ordinarily report our beliefs or invite others to do so. I explain our ordinarily ascribing belief from the expressive character of assertoric speech by appeal to the relation between assertion and belief. In the fourth chapter, I turn to the prospect of ascribing oneself belief based on one’s own words. I argue that self-ascribing belief through the expressive character of words is alone consistent with the self-ascriber’s basic psychological and linguistic integrity. I recommend my characterization of belief for its capacity to explain the disintegrating effects of self-ascribing belief by one’s own report. I again appeal to the relation between assertoric speech and belief to explain the feasibility of self-ascribing belief through the expressive character of one’s words.

Mémoire (M.E.S.R.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1999. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Intentional Attributions to Animals without Language: Aspectuality and Referential Opacity”. It is generally accepted that intentional attributions are referentially opaque. But, as it is also stressed in the literature, referential opacity introduces difficulties to those who defend the attribution of intentionalmental states to non-human animals. In this paper: i) I identify one of these difficulties –which I call the problem of nonsense–; ii) I offer an answer to that problem. In order to accomplish ii), I begin by examining which are the behavioral and representational requisites that a creature has to satisfy so that our mental states attributions to it are referentially opaque but, at the same time, avoid the problem of nonsense. Secondly, I offer some empirical examples of non-human animals which seem to follow such requirements. / Usualmente se acepta que las atribuciones intencionales son referencialmente opacas. Pero, según se suele señalar, dicho rasgo comporta dificultades para quienes defienden la legitimidad de atribuir estados mentales intencionales a los animales no humanos. En este trabajo: i) identifico uno de tales inconvenientes–al cual denomino el problema del sinsentido–; y ii) ofrezco una respuesta al mismo. Para llevar a cabo ii) examino, en primer lugar, cuáles son los requisitos conductuales y representacionales que debe satisfacer una criatura para que nuestras atribuciones intencionales a ella resulten referencialmente opacas sin caer en el sinsentido. En segundo lugar, ofrezco algunos ejemplos empíricos de animales no humanos que parecen satisfacer tales requerimientos.

Heart and Minds concept is one of the most overlooked approaches of the counterinsurgency. This is surprising especially because the classic coercive strategies are struggling with producing sufficient outcomes. In fact it is quite the opposite in practice and they fail to supress the insurgency ultimately. Hearts and Minds strategy is based on assumption that if the government is able to gain public support the insurgents will lose vital resource for their fight and they will collapse eventually. In this thesis I am going to explore the potential the Hearts and Minds strategy has and demonstrate its strengths and weaknesses. There are five cases of insurgency to be examined in which the Hearts and Minds has been used successfully or unsuccessfully. The first case is the Emergency in British Malaya. Gerard Templer is considered as an author of the Hearts and Minds phrase, therefore his administration of Malaya should be examined I believe. Second case is the FARC insurgency in Colombia. Third case is the Zapatistas movement in Mexico. Fourth case is the US invasion into Iraq in 2003. Last case is the 2012 Tuaregs uprising in Mali and subsequent development. It is clear from the findings that Hearts and minds has its place among the COIN approaches. Even though it is not best suited for all...

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The main aim of this study is to explain adolescent offending variety by their parental country of birth. In doing so, the independent effect size and proportion of variance of two core elements of Situational Action Theory (SAT) – propensity and lifestyle risk – on offending variety are examined by immigrant background and gender. Although previous studies produced plenty of support to key assumption of SAT, no study so far measured offending variety as dependent variable. Analyses are based on self-reported data collected for Malmö Individual and Neighborhood Development Study (MINDS) during 2011-12, when the adolescent attained the age between 16 and 17. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression is run to examine the magnitude of effect and proportion of variance. Strong relation of offending variety separately with propensity and lifestyle risk was identified. Contrary to current scholarship on immigrant crime in Sweden, adolescent with immigrant parents are found at no more risk to engage in self-reported delinquency than the natives. Gender difference remains as a strong predictor of offending variety, especially for the immigrant group. This research reveals similarities in magnitude of effects of criminal propensity and lifestyle risks on offending variety, regardless of adolescents’ parental country of birth. Yet, propensity is a stronger predictor for delinquency variety than the lifestyle risks. This confirms applicability of the core elements of SAT, regardless of adolescents’ parental country of birth.

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Economic development in Sri Lanka has relied heavily on foreign and domestic investment. Digital databases are a new and attractive area for this investment. This thesis argues that investment needs protection and this is crucial to attract future investment. The thesis therefore proposes a digital database protection mechanism with a view to attracting investment in digital databases to Sri Lanka. The research examines various existing protection measures whilst mainly focusing on the sui generis right protection which confirms the protection of qualitative and/or quantitative substantial investment in the obtaining, verification or presentation of the contents of digital databases. In digital databases, this process is carried out by computer programs which establish meaningful and useful data patterns through their data mining process, and subsequently use those patterns in Knowledge Discovery within database processes. Those processes enhance the value and/or usefulness of the data/information. Computer programs need to be protected, as this thesis proposes, by virtue of patent protection because the process carried out by computer programs is that of a technical process - an area for which patents are particularly suitable for the purpose of protecting. All intellectual property concepts under the existing mechanisms address the issue of investment in databases in different ways. These include Copyright, Contract, Unfair Competition law and Misappropriation and Sui generis right protection. Since the primary objective of the thesis is to introduce a protection system for encouraging qualitative and quantitative investment in digital databases in Sri Lanka, this thesis suggests a set of mechanisms and rights which comprises of existing intellectual protection mechanisms for databases. The ultimate goal of the proposed protection mechanisms and rights is to improve the laws pertaining to the protection of digital databases in Sri Lanka in order to attract investment, to protect the rights and duties of the digital database users and owners/authors and, eventually, to bring positive economic effects to the country. Since digital database protection is a new concept in the Sri Lankan legal context, this research will provide guidelines for policy-makers, judges and lawyers in Sri Lanka and throughout the South Asian region.

1) Objetivo El planteamiento de esta tesis tiene como objeto de investigación la representación del “otro” en el retrato fotográfico. El contexto histórico que manejamos incluye dos polaridades: por un lado los retratos documentales elaborados durante la colonia entre el s. XIX y principios del s. XX y por otro, obras de artistas contemporáneos cuyo marco conceptual pone a debate la herencia colonial en la contemporaneidad, mediante retratos de estilo documental. A partir de aquí han surgido cuestiones que vertebran el desarrollo de la investigación. ¿Cuáles son los estereotipos e imaginarios creados a partir del retrato antropológico colonial?, ¿Qué aspectos de estos estereotipos son utilizados por los artistas contemporáneos?, ¿Es la fotografía documental una construcción simbólica?, ¿Qué aporta el género documental en la construcción de imaginarios contemporáneos? 2) Metodología La metodología escogida es el análisis cualitativo de fotografías, con un énfasis en la perspectiva sociológica, que engloba el contexto cultural, social y político en el que se desarrollaron dichas imágenes. 3) Conclusiones La fotografía, tanto documental, como artística, es una construcción simbólica. A través de los artistas contemporáneos que hemos analizado a lo largo de ésta investigación, se demuestra que desde el arte se transgreden los modelos de representación del otro realizados durante la colonia. En los casos de estudio, se definen dos modelos de representación del retrato fotográfico: algunos artistas se apropian de fotografías documentales e históricas de la época colonial, para hacer un uso artístico de ellas y construir su propio proyecto de creación. Mientras que otros artistas generan fotografías nuevas, mimetizando las formas del documental, para aportar a sus proyectos una apariencia de veracidad histórica. La consecuencia final es la creación de un discurso en el que se evidencia la “colonialidad” contemporánea. La representación del “otro”, desde nuestro momento actual, desde la fotografía artística contemporánea, es una constante re-evaluación de paradigmas y de estereotipos, en donde la pluralidad, la multiplicidad y la hibridación son inherentes a la identidad del sujeto contemporáneo. . / 1) Objective The main object of this researching is the representation of the otherness in photo portraits. Our historical context includes two polarities: one is about documental portraits doing during colonial period, between XIXth Century and beginnings XXth century; and by another hand, contemporary art works that discuss the contemporary colonial heritage through documentary-style portraits. During this itinerary of the development of research, we propose four main questions: What are the stereotypes and imaginaries created from colonial anthropological portraits?, What aspects of these stereotypes are used by contemporary artists?, Is documentary photography a symbolic construction?, What brings the documentary genre in contemporary imaginary building?. 2) Metodología The methodology is the qualitative analysis of photographs, with an emphasis on the sociological perspective, into the cultural, social and political context in which these images were developed. 3) Conclusiones The documentary and artistic photography are a symbolic construction. Through contemporary artists projects, the representation of the otherness transgress the prototypes made during the colony. In this researching we define two models of representation of photographic portraiture: some artists appropriate documentary and historical photographs from the colonial period, for making an artistic use and building your own creative projects. While other artists generate new photographs imitate the documentary genre, to bring to their projects a semblance of historical accuracy . The representation of the otherness, in our present time, into the contemporary art photography is a constant reassessment of paradigms and stereotypes, wherein the plurality, multiplicity and hybridization are inherent to the identity of the contemporary subject.