1,720,964 research outputs found
The Supposed but Unknown: A Functionalist Account of Locke's Substratum
No full textThe world is occupied by many and varied things. What constitutes their thingness? In the Essay, Locke addresses this question in Book II, Chapter xxiii, titled ‘Of our Complex Ideas of Substance’, wherein the much-contested definition of ‘substratum’ appears—‘a supposed but unknown support of the Qualities’. Most significant in this definition are the dual qualifiers that Locke uses: ‘supposed’ and ‘unknown’. This paper examines this two-qualifier definition, illuminating the historical and philosophical significance it may have.
There have been two rival readings. The first takes Locke’s substratum to be a bare substratum; and the second identifies it with what Locke terms as ‘real essence’—i.e. ‘a real Constitution of the insensible Parts’. Critically reviewing these two major interpretations, I attribute to Locke a type of functionalism, according to which the status of a substratum is determined by its functional role of ‘uniting’ a bundle of qualities into an individual substance
Locke on Substance
Get PDFIn the Essay, Locke refers to the ordinary-sized natural things as ‘particular sorts of Substances’ (2.23), whereas the ‘three sorts of Substances’ (2.27) are more metaphysically laden sorts: God, finite spirits, and fundamental material particles. He posits the much-contested ‘substratum’ in each particular sort of substance but not any of the three sorts. It should also be noted that his list of the particular sorts includes ‘men’. In regard to this nobler sort, he refers to a further classification – viz., ‘the Substance of spirit’ and ‘the Substance of the body’ – only in terms of their nominal essence. A naturalistic, nominalist approach is deeply entrenched in his account of the human-related sorts as well. In this chapter, I shall explore how Locke develops a theory of substance in the Essay that is less metaphysical, more naturalistic, and epistemically humbler than those of his rationalist contemporaries
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Modes of Analyzing Disinformation Narratives With AI/ML/Text Mining to Assist in Mitigating the Weaponization of Social Media
Get PDFThis paper highlights the developing need for quantitative modes for
capturing and monitoring malicious communication in social media. There has
been a deliberate "weaponization" of messaging through the use of social
networks including by politically oriented entities both state sponsored and
privately run. The article identifies a use of AI/ML characterization of
generalized "mal-info," a broad term which includes deliberate malicious
narratives similar with hate speech, which adversely impact society. A key
point of the discussion is that this mal-info will dramatically increase in
volume, and it will become essential for sharable quantifying tools to provide
support for human expert intervention. Despite attempts to introduce moderation
on major platforms like Facebook and X/Twitter, there are now established
alternative social networks that offer completely unmoderated spaces. The paper
presents an introduction to these platforms and the initial results of a
qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis of characteristic mal-info posts.
The authors perform a rudimentary text mining function for a preliminary
characterization in order to evaluate the modes for better-automated
monitoring. The action examines several inflammatory terms using text analysis
and, importantly, discusses the use of generative algorithms by one political
agent in particular, providing some examples of the potential risks to society.
This latter is of grave concern, and monitoring tools must be established. This
paper presents a preliminary step to selecting relevant sources and to setting
a foundation for characterizing the mal-info, which must be monitored. The
AI/ML methods provide a means for semi-quantitative signature capture. The
impending use of "mal-GenAI" is presented.Comment: Accepted at ICWSM-2024 Workshop on Digital State Sponsored
Disinformation and Propaganda: Challenges and Opportunities (DSSDP24
Modes of Tracking Mal-Info in Social Media with AI/ML Tools to Help Mitigate Harmful GenAI for Improved Societal Well Being
No full textA rapidly developing threat to societal well-being is from misinformation widely spread on social media. Even more concerning is ”mal-info” (malicious) which is amplified on certain social networks. Now there is an additional dimension to that threat, which is the use of Generative AI to deliberately augment the mis-info and mal-info. This paper highlights some of the ”fringe” social media channels which have a high level of mal-info as characterized by our AI/ML algorithms. We discuss various channels and focus on one in particular, ”GAB”, as representative of the potential negative impacts. We outline some of the current mal-info as an example. We capture elements, and observe the trends in time. We provide a set of AI/ML modes which can characterize the mal-info and allow for capture, tracking, and potentially for
responding or for mitigation. We highlight the concern about malicious agents using GenAI for deliberate mal-info messaging specifically to disrupt societal well being. We suggest the characterizations presented as a methodology for initiating a more deliberate and quantitative approach to address these harmful aspects of social media which would adversely impact societal well being.
The article highlights the potential for ”mal-info,” including disinfo, cyberbullying, and hate speech, to disrupt segments of society. The amplification of mal-info can result in serious real-world consequences such as mass shootings. Despite attempts to introduce moderation on major platforms like Facebook and to some extent on X/Twitter, there are now growing social networks such as Gab, Gettr, and Bitchute that offer completely unmoderated spaces. This paper presents an introduction
to these platforms and the initial results of a semiquantitative analysis of Gab’s posts. The paper examines several characterization modes using text analysis. The paper emphasizes the developing dangerous use of generative AI algorithms by Gab and other fringe platforms, highlighting the risks to societal well being. This article aims to lay the foundation for capturing, monitoring, and mitigating these risks
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