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Same Terms (same + term)
Selected AbstractsSocial semantics: altruism, cooperation, mutualism, strong reciprocity and group selectionJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2007S. A. WEST Abstract From an evolutionary perspective, social behaviours are those which have fitness consequences for both the individual that performs the behaviour, and another individual. Over the last 43 years, a huge theoretical and empirical literature has developed on this topic. However, progress is often hindered by poor communication between scientists, with different people using the same term to mean different things, or different terms to mean the same thing. This can obscure what is biologically important, and what is not. The potential for such semantic confusion is greatest with interdisciplinary research. Our aim here is to address issues of semantic confusion that have arisen with research on the problem of cooperation. In particular, we: (i) discuss confusion over the terms kin selection, mutualism, mutual benefit, cooperation, altruism, reciprocal altruism, weak altruism, altruistic punishment, strong reciprocity, group selection and direct fitness; (ii) emphasize the need to distinguish between proximate (mechanism) and ultimate (survival value) explanations of behaviours. We draw examples from all areas, but especially recent work on humans and microbes. [source] Purring and similar vocalizations in mammalsMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 4 2002G. Peters ABSTRACT The terms purr and purring have been used for vocalizations produced by a variety of mammalian species in different orders. A few other mammalian vocalizations that are structurally somewhat similar to felid purring but have been given another term have also been described in the literature. Because use of the same term implies ,sameness', which in an evolutionary sense can only mean that the vocalizations so named are homologous (= share the same ancestral vocalization type), the terms purr and purring ought to be restricted to vocalizations homologous with felid purring, and any mammalian vocalization homologous with felid purring ought to be named accordingly. According to present knowledge ,true' purring is established only in the families Viverridae and Felidae of the Carnivora. Vocalizations very similar in structure occur in matching behavioural contexts in other families of the Carnivora and several other mammalian orders. Most of these vocalization types are likely to have evolved convergently. [source] The Illusory Theory of Colours: An Anti-Realist TheoryDIALECTICA, Issue 3 2006Barry Maund Despite the fact about colour, that it is one of the most obvious and conspicuous features of the world, there is a vast number of different theories about colour, theories which seem to be proliferating rather than decreasing. How is it possible that there can be so much disagreement about what colours are? Is it possible that these different theorists are not talking about the same thing? Could it be that more than one of them is right? Indeed some theorists, e.g. Leo M. Hurvich, D. L. McAdam and K. Nassau, say that the term ,colour' is used to identify a range of different properties, e.g. pigments, properties of light, and sensations. Such a view has its attractions, but it raises the question of what it is that unites these various concepts , what is it that would make them all concepts of colour? What is it that justifies using the same terms, ,yellow', ,blue', ,pink', mauve', and so on? This paper aims to address this question, arguing that its answer supports the conclusion that the best theory of colour is a form of anti-realism: the Illusory theory of colours. There are two parts to this thesis, one negative, the other positive. The negative part is that there are no colours, as they are ordinarily conceived. The positive part is that, nevertheless, the world is such that ,it is as if there are such colours'. Such a theory has important implications. One is that it doesn't fall neatly into the usual taxonomy of philosophical theories. In particular, it does not deserve the label ,eliminativist'. Another is that it allows some space for the views expressed by Hurvich, McAdam and Nassau, but not quite in the sense that they intend. [source] Epicureanism and the poetics of consumptionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 4 2010Dawn Wood Abstract Consumption, ,to use up, to destroy', is a dirty word. It conjures piles of rubbish; it suggests an extravagant attitude. We, each one of us hoping to be a unique, careful individual, can feel offended at being referred to as ,the consumer'. Yet, ,to consume' is not only a human activity, it is one of the fundamental processes of nature, a natural aspect of the creative process. In this paper, I will emphasize connections between the creative research process, poetics and consumerism. I suggest that research can be envisioned as a cycle of consumption and renewal. Our tools in such a natural philosophy are the contemplation of natural events, and the insights that a poetic understanding of language can give us. To this end, I draw on the ancient Epicurean philosophy, as demonstrated in De rerum natura, written by the Roman poet, Lucretius, in the first century BCE. Lucretius gave a scientific explanation of the universe, in poetry, to demonstrate that natural laws can be derived by reason, contemplation and by the use of the senses. Further, Lucretius' use of language, as a creative medium, modelled the actions of the universe. This insight provides a link between poetry, science and research, one which is still relevant to twenty-first-century scientific research generally. In this paper, I will suggest that it is also specifically relevant to the design and practice of consumer research. For instance, both research and creativity are aspects of that urge to move beyond subjectivity, towards knowledge that is whole and shared. In Epicureanism, subjective engagement provides access to that which is universal. We can conceive of consumerism, and of consumer research, in the same terms, as a striving for completion, and as a poetic, natural and reciprocal act, involving the transformation of the consumer, and that which is consumed. [source] Consumer rationality and credit card pricing: An explanation based on the option value of credit linesMANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 5 2004Sangkyun Park An option is embedded in credit cards. Since credit cards offer open credit lines, cardholders can borrow at the same terms when they become riskier. This option value raises the zero-profit card rate. Furthermore, adverse selection occurs if cardholders are better informed about the probability of becoming riskier in the future and borrow more when they become riskier. The adverse selection can limit rate competition and keep the card rate above the zero-profit card rate. An up-front fee is not a good alternative because it is also vulnerable to adverse selection. A low introductory card rate is an effective way to avoid the adverse selection problem when asymmetric information is mainly about the change in the borrower's risk profile in the future, as opposed to the riskiness in the present period. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Detooling The Language of the Master's House: The Case of Those "Nuclear Things"PEACE & CHANGE, Issue 2 2003Brien Hallett The tool of language helps to shape the argument and outcome of a political conflict in much the same way as the availability and selection of tools and materials affect the kind of house a builder will erect. The advocates of abolishing nuclear stockpiles down to absolute zero unwittingly have embraced the same terms or language tools as their opponents. "Banning the bomb" on the basis of its incredibly devastating consequences has failed in part because the antinuclearists have not disavowed the language that authenticates the alternative perspective of the bomb's incredible power. Along with their opponents, they have conjoined the word "nuclear" with the words "weapon" and "war" to create two formidable oxymora that have impaired greatly their ability to escape the lexical trap of the pronuclear mindset of power politics. In this article an argument is advanced for exposing and avoiding these oxymora and for suggesting some alternative terms in order that the abolitionists might reframe the debate in such a way that conventional political and military assumptions about nuclear power can be challenged radically. [source] An Economic Justification for Open Access to Essential Medicine Patents in Developing CountriesTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 2 2009Sean Flynn This paper offers an economic rationale for compulsory licensing of needed medicines in developing countries. The patent system is based on a trade-off between the "deadweight losses" caused by market power and the incentive to innovate created by increased profits from monopoly pricing during the period of the patent. However, markets for essential medicines under patent in developing countries with high income inequality are characterized by highly convex demand curves, producing large deadweight losses relative to potential profits when monopoly firms exercise profit-maximizing pricing strategies. As a result, these markets are systematically ill-suited to exclusive marketing rights, a problem which can be corrected through compulsory licensing. Open licenses that permit any qualified firm to supply the market on the same terms, such as may be available under licenses of right or essential facility legal standards, can be used to mitigate the negative effects of government-granted patents, thereby increasing overall social welfare. [source] | ||||||||||||||||