This corpus based diploma thesis takes stock of Finnish epistemic modal verbs voida, saattaa, taitaa and mahtaa and surveys their translational counterparts as they can be found in the parallel corpus InterCorp. The aim of the thesis is to find out what tendencies there can be found in the translation of the modals in question. In the theoretical part, there is, firstly, a description of both modality and modal verbs in Finnish and Czech, secondly, of the differences between the approaches to modality in both languages and, thirdly, of the features of translated language. In the analytical part, the translations are sorted out into categories based on the particular modal specifiers. The description of the different modal specifier categories follows.

This thesis deals with the analysis of the epistemic modality of selected French adverbs in -ment. After a theoretical introduction of basic terms and characterizations of the epistemic modality and the principal means of its expression, it focuses on the very epistemic adverbs. At first, for the purpose of the following research, we specify the syntactically and semantically homogenous group of epistemic adverbs in -ment, defining it by dictionaries and constituent works. Afterwards, this group is analyzed quantitatively - on the French corpora Frantext, L'Est républicain and frWac - as well as qualitatively - on the parallel corpus InterCorp - with an emphasis on the post-verbal position of the adverb in the sentence, on the certainty degree and the Czech translation equivalents. The final part of the study is constituted by a reversed analysis of acquired Czech equivalents. Key words: French, epistemic modality, modal specificators, modal adverb, corpus linguistics.

This thesis studies the use of dynamic epistemic logics for the sake of information privacy. The core of the work is the synthesis of three approaches: security logics from A. Hommersom, plausibility frames and communication logic from A. Baltag and S. Smets, and studies concerning the so called Russian cards protocol. Thereafter we present a program, made in the NetLogo environment, in order to demonstrate the workings of the basic ideas.

Le domaine des protocoles tolérants aux pannes étudie quelles tâches concurrentes sont résolubles dans différents modèles de calcul avec pannes. Des outils mathématiques basés sur la topologie combinatoire ont été développés depuis les années 1990 pour aborder ces questions. Dans ce cadre, la tâche que l’on veut résoudre, et le protocole auquel on fait appel, sont modélisés par des complexes simpliciaux chromatiques. On définit qu’un protocole résout une tâche lorsqu’il existe une certaine application simpliciale entre ces complexes.Dans cette thèse, on étudie ces méthodes géométriques du point de vue de la sémantique. Le premier objectif est de fonder cette définition abstraite de résolution d’une tâche sur une autre plus concrète, basée sur des entrelacements de traces d’exécution. On examine diverses notions de spécifications pour les objets concurrents, afin de définir un cadre général pour la résolution de tâches par des objets partagés. On montre ensuite comment extraire de ce cadre la définition topologique de résolubilité de tâches.Dans la deuxième partie de la thèse, on prouve que les complexes simpliciaux chromatiques peuvent être utilisés pour évaluer des formules de logique épistémique. Cela permet d’interpréter les preuves topologiques d’impossibilité en fonction de la quantité de connaissances à acquérir pour résoudre une tâche.Enfin, on présente quelques liens préliminaires avec la sémantique dirigée pour les programmes concurrents. On montre comment la subdivision chromatique d’un simplexe peut être retrouvée en considérant des notions combinatoires de chemins dirigés. / The field of fault-tolerant protocols studies which concurrent tasks are solvable in various computational models where processes may crash. To answer these questions, powerful mathematical tools based on combinatorial topology have been developed since the 1990’s. In this approach, the task that we want to solve, and the protocol that we use to solve it, are both modeled using chromatic simplicial complexes. By definition, a protocol solves a task when there exists a particular simplicial map between those complexes.In this thesis we study these geometric methods from the point of view of semantics. Our first goal is to ground this abstract definition of task solvability on a more concrete one, based on interleavings of execution traces. We investigate various notions of specification for concurrent objects, in order to define a general setting for solving concurrent tasks using shared objects. We then show how the topological definition of task solvability can be derived from it.In the second part of the thesis, we show that chromatic simplicial complexes can actually be used to interpret epistemic logic formulas. This allows us to understand the topological proofs of task unsolvability in terms of the amount of knowledge that the processes should acquire in order to solve a task.Finally, we present a few preliminary links with the directed space semantics for concurrent programs. We show how chromatic subdivisions of a simplex can be recovered by considering combinatorial notions of directed paths.

Moral vagueness is encountered when the alethic value of some moral statement containing a moral predicate is deemed to be vague. One such statement could be “abortion in week 22 is permissible”. Given the metaethical framework of moral realism, there are three standard approaches to understanding the ontology of such vagueness. The semantic approach states that the vagueness is due to our language not being able to adequately refer to the moral reality. The ontic approach states that the vagueness is an intrinsic feature of the moral reality, and as such it will always persist. The epistemic approach states that the vagueness is due to subjects not being able to know the moral reality. In effect, there are things about morality we cannot know, because of our epistemic disposition. In this thesis, I investigate arguments in favor of all three approaches and find that of the three, the epistemic approach – here named moral epistemicism – has the best chances of succeeding. / Moralisk vaghet uppstår när sanningsvärdet av ett moraliskt uttalande, innehållandes ett moraliskt predikat, anses vara vagt. Ett sådant uttalande kan vara "abort i vecka 22 är tillåtet". Givet moralisk realism som metaetiskt ramverk finns det tre vedertagna tillvägagångssätt för att förstå ontologin hos en sådan vaghet. Det semantiska tillvägagångssättet hävdar att vagheten beror på att vårat språk inte kan referera till den moraliska verkligheten på ett adekvat sätt. Det ontiska tillvägagångssättet hävdar att vagheten är en inneboende egenskap hos den moraliska verkligheten, det är verkligheten själv som är vag. Det epistemiska tillvägagångssättet hävdar att vagheten beror på att vi som subjekt inte kan veta allt om den moraliska verkligheten. Det finns moraliska sanningar som vi inte kan veta på grund av vår epistemiska disposition. I denna avhandling undersöker jag argument till förmån för alla tre tillvägagångssätt och finner att det epistemiska tillvägagångssättet – här benämnd moralisk epistemicism – har störst chans att lyckas.

Segregation is an acknowledged issue in Sweden. The aim of this study was to examine the trust towards the social services among adolescents living in segregated areas in Gävle. Previous research shows the importance of trust to achieve a good work alliance and a good outcome. Four focus group discussions including 19 adolescents were held with representation from three segregated areas in Gävle. The empirical material has been analyzed on the bases of social constructivism and epistemic trust. The results show a lack of trust towards the social services and instead the adolescents put their trust in rumors, friends and family. The results also show a desire from the adolescents of more open relationships with the social workers as well as a wish for a trust creating work and spreading of information from the social services. The study thereby shows a flaw and a development area for the social services. / Segregation är ett uppmärksammat problem i Sverige. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur tilliten till socialtjänsten upplevs bland ungdomar i segregerade bostadsområden i Gävle kommun. Forskning visar på vikten av tillit för att uppnå en god arbetsallians och ett gott resultat. Fyra fokusgruppsdiskussioner med sammanlagt 19 ungdomar har genomförts med representanter från tre av Gävles segregerade områden. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats utifrån socialkonstruktivistisk teori samt epistemisk tillit. Resultaten visar en bristande tillit till socialtjänsten och att ungdomar istället litar på rykten, vänner och familj. Resultaten visar även en önskan från ungdomarnas sida om öppnare relationer med fältarbetare och socialsekreterare samt en önskan om ett tillitsskapande arbete och informationsspridning från socialtjänstens sida. Studien lyfter därmed fram en brist och ett utvecklingsområde för socialtjänsten.

This thesis examines a set of three utterance particles—ge3, laak3, and lo1—in Hong Kong Cantonese in terms of evidentiality, epistemic modality, and mirativity. Cantonese utterance particles have long been studied; however, close investigation of evidentiality and mirativity on a small set of particles is relatively rare. Previous accounts claim that ge3 and laak3 convey certainty. On the other hand, linguists also claim that the use of the utterance particle lo1 assumes a high level of knowledge from a hearer. This thesis has two main purposes: to untangle the differences between the utterance particles ge3 and laak3 in terms of epistemic modality and evidentiality and to reveal the mirative meanings of the utterance particle lo1. I postulate that the utterance particle ge3 conveys both epistemic modality and evidentiality. For epistemic modality, ge3 concerns a speaker’s knowledge. The evidential meaning—access to prior knowledge—is realized through implicature. This pragmatic reading is highly context dependent. In contrast, the utterance particle laak3 conveys only epistemic modality which concerns a state of affairs and signifies a change of state. Lastly, this study also reveals that the utterance particle lo1 has mirative values of sudden realization and counterexpectation under certain conversational contexts.

Nuclear Security research is an established subdiscipline in security studies. According to some authors is this field of research currently split into two groups of scientists - the "political scientists" and "historians" - who employ widely different approaches to research of the subject and communicate with each other on a minimal basis. This master thesis uses tools of bibliometric citational analysis to validate the existence of this gap on the level of academic citations. The author analyses this phenomenon on the dataset based on the data from the database Scopus. Results of the research bring new insights into the citational structure of set subdiscipline, which shows that the presumed gap between two supposedly not communicating groups does not appear on the level citations.

Cognitive epistemic systems are reasoning structures that promote an individual's categorization of group members through processes known as cognitive epistemic essentialist entitativity (EEE). The propensity of these processes to become stagnant is known to lead to stereotyping and prejudiced behaviors when individuals are presented with ambiguous information about outgroup members. Educational materials about the contributions, cultural patterns, and social customs of ethnic and cultural groups can reduce stereotyping and prejudiced behaviors. However, whether being presented this material through multicultural psychosocial education in a formal setting is an effective strategy to influence the malleability of EEE processes has not been addressed as a means to shift xenophobic and prejudice discourse. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine whether malleability of EEE processes resulted from the presentation of multicultural psychosocial educational material in a college classroom. The epistemic need for closure theory, intergroup contact theory, and essentialist theory of race provided the framework for the study. The Essentialist Entitativity Scale was used to compare the malleability of EEE processes of 67 college students who completed an 8-week course based on multicultural psychosocial educational material and 67 college students who did not. An ANCOVA analysis of pre- and posttest data revealed that students who received the culturally rich educational material reported significantly greater malleability of EEE processes than those who did not. Findings may be used to inform educators, educational leaders, and social activists about the malleability of EEE processes, and may provide a strategy to reduce racism, stereotyping, xenophobia, and prejudice.

CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies Department of security studies Nuclear Security Studies Scholarship: A Social Network Analysis Master's thesis Author: Kryštof Kučmáš Study programme: Security Studies Supervisor: PhDr. Michal Smetana, Ph.D. Year of the defence: 2020 Declaration 1. I hereby declare that I have compiled this thesis using the listed literature and resources only. 2. I hereby declare that my thesis has not been used to gain any other academic title. 3. I fully agree to my work being used for study and scientific purposes. In Prague on 5. 1. Kryštof Kučmáš References KUČMÁŠ, Kryštof. Nuclear Security Studies Scholarship: A Social Network Analysis. Praha, 2020. Master's thesis (Mgr.) Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Science. Department of Security Studies. Supervisor PhDr. Michal Smetana, Ph.D. Length of the thesis: 46382 char Abstract The nuclear security scholarship is as influential as varied. The thesis Nuclear Security Studies Scholarship: A Social Network Analysis tries to provide a different angle of literature analysis. Author compiled a high amount of citational data in the field of nuclear security studies and then analyzed it with the tools provided by Social Network Analysis and Citational Analysis....