An Ethics of Courage and Honesty in Wittgenstein and Heidegger

Sustainable project selection: Optimal project selection considering sustainability under reinvestment strategy

As well as drawing sceptical conclusions, Nietzsche rejects the concept of absolute or metaphysical truth as unintelligible. Nietzsche's views are elucidated by contrasting his arguments with alternative accounts of ‘objective reality’ belonging to the philosophical canon. It ensues that Nietzsche espouses a variety of anti‐metaphysics premised on the mutual determination of reality and interest. He believes that objective reality cannot be conceived without volitional and intentional agency on the part of subjects who experience themselves as acted upon (‘resisted’) by the contents of their representations. Having elaborated and explained the prominence of Nietzsche's denial of metaphysical fact, the discussion turns to the origin and significance of the desire for metaphysical truth. In identifying the embracing of metaphysical truth for its own sake (the ‘will to truth’) with the ascetic ideal, Nietzsche intends to contrast practical engagement with the world with a preference for evaluation divorced from the subject's actual experiences and desires. Belief in objective value and ‘the will to truth’ are subsumed under a general psychological disposition designated ‘the ascetic ideal’, characterized by self‐deception or ressentiment.

In this research, we focus on audio description (AD) as a form of audiovisual translation designed to eliminate barriers in visual communication for people who, for various reasons, lack access to visual content. To achieve this, it is essential to reflect on visual literacy to understand a world increasingly dominated by image-based communication. This becomes especially relevant when considering the description of images in general. Secondly, we analyse a multimodal text, specifically a film text. Using audio description as a starting point, we aim to reflect on the application of this modality in cinema. The methodology includes an introduction to AD, its objectives, and the outcomes that result in an accessible version of audiovisual content. For this process, it is necessary to have a foundational understanding of translation, image grammar, and film language, as well as a minimum level of visual literacy. This foundation enables the analysis of the text with the objective of translating it, producing an accessible version, or creating an audio-written script. Building on these considerations, this research proposes a reflection on existing description practices to evaluate their comprehensibility and the mental images they evoke. Specifically, we investigate what is conveyed through words and what images are constructed in the minds of the audience based on these descriptions. A representative sample or selection of proposed descriptions will be analyzed by comparing different versions of the same film. This comparison will address: 1) The cognitive load (focusing on syntax and lexis); 2) The creation of mental images through words. Regarding the second point, we explore: 2a) Whether the mental images differ for a sighted person, someone born blind, or someone who has lost their sight. 2b) Whether the descriptions can produce the same mental images for audiences from different cultural backgrounds.

Construction site layout planning (CSLP) for prefabricated construction projects differs significantly from traditional construction projects, particularly in the use of tower cranes and the arrangement of locations for precasting components. Previous research has introduced various models to optimize CSLP problems. However, these studies often consider only one or two objective functions related to safety, transportation costs, environmental impacts, or crane performance. Additionally, many models employ long-standing metaheuristic algorithms, resulting in suboptimal solutions. This article proposes the application of the multi-objective artificial hummingbird algorithm (MOAHA) to address the CSLP by integrating objectives related to safety risks, transportation costs, and efficient tower crane operation. A case study derived from previous research, as well as a real construction site, is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed model. The results demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms existing models in terms of objective function values and the number of optimal solutions found. Moreover, in real projects, the solutions from the model outperform the actual plan by 38–50% when comparing objective function values. This demonstrates that the model has the potential to effectively address more complex CSLP challenges in the future.

This chapter discusses the virtue of integrity as central to a worthwhile life. It is argued that a fragmented or compartmentalized life is always subject to instability, in so far as unresolved psychological tensions may threaten to derail our ethical projects. Achieving an integrated life requires self-awareness; and (drawing on insights from the psychoanalytic tradition) it is suggested that this is not a simple matter but requires a complex process of self-discovery. The chapter’s final section argues that, although necessary for the good life, integrity cannot be sufficient. Against the influential views of Bernard Williams and Harry Frankfurt, it is maintained that our commitment to our chosen projects, however authentic, is not enough to give our lives meaning and value. A good and meaningful life cannot depend on authenticity alone, but requires us to bring our projects into line with objective values that we did not create and cannot alter.

Investigating students’ cognitive processes in generative AI-assisted digital multimodal composing and traditional writing

Cormac McCarthy, Philosophy and the Physics of the Damned

Perky's 1910 observation that mental images were indistinguishable from external stimuli is considered as two issues: (1) description of images which apparently resemble the unidentified stimulus, has been given, but not satisfactorily measured; (2) poorer detection of ambiguous signals while experiencing images, has been consistently demonstrated. While distraction may play some role, the critical finding was with sensitivity ( d′), which was highest in a simple discrimination task, intermediate when Ss were told both to describe imagery and detect the signals, and poorest when they lacked information that signals might be present during imaging and relied on retrospective judgments (Perky replication). In the intermediate task, alerting Ss to the signals by having them project the slides themselves, did not alter sensitivity or bias (Lx).

The effects of image and verbal generation on false memories in the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm were investigated by comparing three experimental conditions (description, image, and image description). False memory rates were reduced when participants received an explicit imagery instruction rather than when they were asked to describe the characteristics of word referents or both imagine and describe referents. Verbal generation is thought to promote the associated processing of list items and thus increase the probability of activating lures during encoding and of falsely remembering. Conversely, self-generated imagery is expected to decrease the probability of falsely recalling and recognizing the lures. Imagery encoding should be used as a distinctiveness heuristic at retrieval for impeding the false recalls/recognitions of the critical items. Nevertheless, when imagery encoding was coupled with a verbal generation task, mental images were no longer sufficiently stringent criteria for reducing false memories. These findings could challenge the conditions of using imagery techniques when people have to remember an event while evoking it in a mental image so as to describe it in greater detail.

Over the past decade, there has been a significant improvement in the quality of images we see on the web, and image processing technologies such as monocular depth estimation are opening up new possibilities for various applications. However, despite these developments, how we utilize image descriptions for image accessibility has remained stagnant since alt text was introduced with HTML 2.0 in 1995. This paper presents the concept of Dimensional alt text, which enables users to navigate image descriptions through three-dimensional layers: the foreground, middle ground, and background. Our research findings suggest that providing space for image descriptions on each dimensional layer can assist users in building a mental image of the photo, resulting in better spatial understanding. Our discussion for future work is to extend the use case of the prototype to a broader range of users and investigate a hybrid authoring model that combines human authorship with AI assistance.

Images have a strong presence in educational contexts, particularly in online environments. When images add vital information for the understanding of a given subject, this information must be perceived by all students, including those who have a visual impairment. Although most web tools and platforms have a field for the description or alternative text, most images do not contain this information. Since 2016, some platforms and web services have been providing features, based on Artificial Intelligence, which present a brief description of the images to screen readers. Are these descriptions effective for people with visual impairment, in an eLearning context? Are they enough for a blind person to create a mental image? How do they differ from the description performed by humans? To answer these questions, it is necessary to have an idea of how we perceive images and how they make sense in our brain, according to our values and culture. Thus, in this work we present a reflection related to these questions, using examples of descriptions obtained by the google chrome feature “Get image description” and descriptions made by people in the various editions of the MOOC “Image description in web context”.

In this paper, we present an approach to achieve the region-based image semantic interpretation and recall process in color image from image database. This system includes feature extraction of region, indexing process, linguistic inference rules construction, as well as a semantic description of region image. Based on these features, each of human labeled regions in an image can be described by a corresponding linguistic meaning. The main procedure consists of two parts: procedure 1 (forward) and 2 (recall) processes. The forward process primarily presents the linguistic meaning description of a region image based on feature definitions, inference rules, and indexing process. In recall process, it mainly reconstructs the region image which performs the rough mental image of human memory retrieval according to the semantic meaning by means of a specified or the pre-staged result. Experiments confirm that our approach is reasonable and feasible.

Intrusive mental images of trauma can pop into mind spontaneously, often accompanied by high levels of emotion. Intrusive images are a feature of several psychological disorders, notably post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the field of mental imagery there has been relatively little research linked to emotion or intrusions. In this article it is suggested that images in PTSD are on a continuum with images that can be generated in the laboratory. Some recent studies are described, exploring a range of paradigms. The development of intrusive imagery can be investigated with non-clinical samples, using a stressful film as analogue trauma. A series of experiments on the impact of peri-traumatic visuospatial versus verbal tasks on intrusion development are summarized. Media broadcasting of real trauma provides an opportunity to investigate intrusive image response in a non-laboratory setting. Further along the continuum are studies using descriptions of images from clinical samples, such as patients with PTSD. Overall, such investigations of intrusive imagery provide clues of both theoretical and clinical relevance.

SUMMARY We investigated memory qualities that aAect judgements of whether a recollection is a personal memory or self-knowledge. In Experiment 1, college students described three types of childhood experiences: remembered, known but not remembered, and unsure whether remembered or known. After describing the experiences, they rated their memories on several characteristics (e.g. visual detail, emotion). Remembered events were rated as containing more information on almost all the dimensions than the known events (unsure events were rated between the other two types of events). Based on the observed diAerences, in Experiments 2 and 3 we manipulated remember versus know ratings. Participants described a remember, know, or unsure event. Some then formed a mental image of the event while others did not. Creation and description of a mental image led participants to rate known events closer to remember. The remember/know rating is a source-monitoring decision based on the quality of the memory. #1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The mental images generated by advertisements and commercial ads have an effect both on the memory and on eliciting responses from the public. A methodology has been used that analyzes the content of the words involved in the verbal written description of the mental images evoked through a free recall task. The findings confirm that the remembrance of the mental images in the subjects varies according to the type of stimulus presented: image, word, sound. In the same manner, a multivariate analysis of the variance also ascribes the differences to the vividness of the mental capacity of the subjects.