Plural Action Research Articles

On meanings of the reciprocal suffix -š- in Balkar

The paper is based on evidence collected from Balkar speakers during the authors’ field trips to Verkhnyaya Balkariya village, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic in August of 2021. The study addresses semantics of the suffix -š- in Balkar. This marker has three basic meanings: reciprocal, sociative, and competitive. Reciprocal denotes simultaneous mutual action by two or more participants, each (or most) performing more than one semantic role. Sociative describes collective or distributive plural actions. Competitive interpretations refer to situations when two or more people are trying to surpass each other in some activity. All of the basic meanings can be confined to verbal plurality. The suffix also manifests some scalar properties. For each of the basic meanings we reveal certain restrictions on the semantic class of the base verb. Apart from that, a range of additional meanings sometimes manifest in -š-derivates: durative, iterative, and excessive plurality.

Urban Transition and the Return of Neighbourhood Planning. Questioning the Proximity Syndrome and the 15-Minute City

European policies acknowledge cities’ major roles in building greener and just urban habitats. When rethinking cities’ spatial organisation, the call is for creating better liveability conditions at the level closest to citizens. In this frame, research into the impacts of COVID-19 has led to a revival of neighbourhood planning and the 15-Minute City has been proposed as a successful model for cities’ recoveries in the name of regained proximity to collective facilities. This article questions the long-lasting neighbourhood image that the 15-Minute City refers to, by exploring recent experiences that renewed its application. We begin with a literature review, and then develop an evidence-based approach to a deeper analysis of policy design and implementation focusing on the Italian city of Milano. Discussion and conclusions highlight critical issues and potentials of the 15-Minute City. If the threat is that of a simplified and rhetorical use of this idea, its ability to gather plural actions under an appealing flagship can be a powerful driver for urban regeneration policies. However, being more than just a reproducible spatial model, the 15-Minute City needs to be handled as a complex planning device, whose effective implementation depends on the specific characteristics of the urban environments it applies to and on the strong intertwining of different policy fields and tools.

“Challenge Accepted” Movement on Instagram: An Embodied Virtual Protest

This paper investigates whether social media provides an alternative protest forum minimizing bodily harm for vulnerable groups through an analysis of the “Challenge Accepted” movement on Instagram. The Instagram challenge constituted a part of the physical and online protests against the actions of the authorities and mechanisms in Turkey, especially after the Turkish government’s decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, which increased women’s vulnerability. Based on Judith Butler’s writings, I propose four main properties for an effective protest: 1. Visibility of the protesters and their bodies, 2. Plural action, 3. Occupation of “public” spaces, 4. Vulnerability of the protesters. Looking into the properties and tactics that carry over from physical to virtual protests, I argue that social media offers its users an alternatively embodied political presence in public that minimizes harm and allows for plural political action, and has tangible socio-political consequences and effects on protesters’ bodies and lives. Although I ultimately argue that hybrid physical-online protests are more effective and less risky for the protesters, this paper is an attempt to re-think and imagine alternative protest platforms that reduce vulnerability and increase social and political impact, which is much needed under certain circumstances that increase protesters’ vulnerability and discourage physical participation, such as police brutality, governmental oppression and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Collective Belief Defended

ABSTRACT We evaluate several significant objections to the possibility of group belief. These incredulity objections urge that the very concept of group belief is suspect or incoherent. Although many other objections to group belief exist, these incredulity objections can be plausibly resisted. Smith argues that there cannot be group beliefs, and that it is fallacious to maintain that functional equivalence between individual cognitive processes and group processes may establish group cognition. Ludwig’s distributive analysis of plural action sentences – as well as Phelan, Arico, and Nichols’s experimental studies of lay discursive practices – aim to show that ordinary discursive practices are not committed to group agency and mentality. We argue that Smith’s objections against group belief are contestable, that it is not generally fallacious to identify functionally equivalent processes, and that the burden of proof rests with those who would maintain that processes which are functionally equivalent to mental processes are nevertheless not mental. We further argue that Ludwig’s analysis and Phelan et al.’s studies are not decisive.

Individual and Collective Action: Reply to Blomberg

Abstract Olle Blomberg challenges three claims in my book From Individual to Plural Agency (Ludwig, Kirk (2016): From Individual to Plural Agency: Collective Action 1. Vols. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press.). The first is that there are no collective actions in the sense in which there are individual actions. The second is that singular action sentences entail that there is no more than one agent of the event expressed by the action verb in the way required by that verb (the sole agency requirement). The third, is that an individual intention, e.g. to build a boat, is not satisfied if you don’t do it yourself. On the first point, I grant that Blomberg identifies an important distinction between simple and composite actions the book did not take into account, but argue it doesn’t show that there are collective actions in the same sense there are individual actions. On the second point, I argue from examples that the collective reading of plural action sentences doesn’t entail the distributive reading, which requires the sole agency requirement on singular action sentences. This settles the third point, since it entails that if you intend to build a boat, you are successful only if you are the only agent of it in the sense required by the verb.

Fact of Reason, Social Facts, and Evidence

The place of evidence regarding joint commitment and plural action is mostly reserved for documents and explicit linguistic expressions. This paper considers the problem of evidence in cases of engaged (jointly committed) social acts where there is no explicit expression or binding document, yet can still be ascribed to a plural subject. The argument rests on the double meaning of the term factum as fact (factum brutum) and deed (factum practica), as well as contemporary debates about the topic of fact of reason in Kant. The text seeks to show that in certain cases, the execution of an act or the obligation produced by it can be considered evidence of a plural subject. Thus, these facts deserve a special position in relation to scientific evidence.

Plural Action Sentences and Logical Form: Reply to Himmelreich

ABSTRACTThis paper replies to Himmelreich's ‘The Paraphrase Argument Against Collective Actions’ [2017], which presents three putative counterexamples to the multiple agents analysis of plural action sentences. The paper shows that the argument from the first example, the discursive dilemma, fails because it relies crucially on a simplification of the target analysis, and that the others don't bear on the question because they turn out on examination to be about individual rather than group action sentences.

Verbal plural in Zande

Abstract Verbal plural is marked morphologically by a suffix of the verb or by reduplication of the verb stem. Only the latter way is productive. Plurality may refer to the participants, the actions, or the outcome of actions. Singular is a vague category. The so-called singular forms of many verbs may be used number neutrally to describe singular or plural actions or events, while the plural forms are used in order to disambiguate. With other verbs the two forms distinguish between a non-high and a high degree of plurality of action.

On the Reduplication in Kurdish language

Reduplicated words are a fascinating, and fun aspect of language. In many languages (nearly 85%) reduplication has been observed. Reduplication, as Charles Kauffman (2015) points out is a morphological process that through doubling a morpheme enhances, emphasizes, amplifies, enlarges, diminishes, adds number or changes verb tense – to bring about significant meaning changes or shades of meaning. In general, there are two basic forms – full reduplication and partial reduplication that each of them includes several forms. In this research, our purpose is identifying and introducing a variety of reduplication patterns in Kurdish language. For this purpose we explored more than 700 samples of reduplications in Kurdish language and categorized them in several sets. We noticed that frequentative, increased action, and plural action as the most common semantic categories marked by reduplication in the samples. The studies show that this morphological process especially partial type causes some changes in the meaning of resulting combinations. What is added to the reduplicant (base or root), in most cases, is meaningless. It also seems this kind of words especially partial ones are used in informal language and an ironic meaning is inferred by them.

The forms of social engagement regarding the subject of import

My aim is to draw attention to the different forms of social engagement regarding the subject of import. The concept of import was introduced in the theory of action by Bennet Helm. It denotes an intentional characteristic of an object, to be viewed as worthy of pursuit or avoidance. However, according to Helm, the subject of import could be: either an individual person, the other or plural agent. Using this division in the context of social engagement, I propose to distinguish three forms of social engagement: (1) personal social engagement, (2) social engagement for the sake of others and (3) social engagement as togetherness. Social engagement as togetherness (plural agent) should not be confused with plural action with the same goal-directedness (which is part of personal social engagement). This argumentative step was enabled by Helm?s complex theory about ?us? as a subject of import, contrary to some contemporary theorists who dispute the possibility of plural agents.

What, after all, is leadership? ‘Leadership’ and plural action

The question of what leadership is continues to be an important question to address, despite the many attempts to answer it and the suggestion that these many attempts are similar enough to recommend a standard definition of leadership. This paper addresses what is missed on the definition offered as standard by providing an analysis of ‘leadership’ and plural action.

Plural Action

In this paper, I distinguish three claims, which I label individual intentional autonomy, individual intentional autarky, and intentional individualism. The autonomy claim is that under normal circumstances, each individual's behavior has to be interpreted as his or her own action. The autarky claim is that the intentional interpretation of an individual's behavior has to bottom out in that individual's own volitions, or pro-attitudes. The individualism claim is weaker, arguing that any interpretation of an individual's behavior has to be given in terms of individual intentional states. I argue that individual intentional autonomy implies neither individual intentional autarky, nor intentional individualism, with which it is usually lumped together. I further argue that this insight is the key to an adequate view of an important class of actions, i.e., plural actions.

Collective Intentional Behavior from the Standpoint of Semantics*

sense, it requires the members of the group to intend that they perform the joint action by way of meshing subplans (see section IV below). This does not represent a disagreement between us, for Bratman does not state his aim in the same way I have stated mine. His is introduced by way of an example of the sort of ‘shared intention’ he aims to provide an analysis of. Mine is introduced by way of a certain semantic reading of a plural action sentence. The notion of a shared intention is made for the notion of shared cooperative activity which Bratman discusses in (Bratman, 1992). See the last paragraph of section V for discussion of the difference between shared cooperative activity and collective intentional behavior more generally. Even

A Collision Avoidance Expert System for Integrated Navigation System and Its Brush-up

In order to satisfy the demand for highly automated and fully safe ship operation, it is desirable that an Integrated Navigation System (INS) has an intelligent decision-making supporting function. Such a function can propose a proper maneuvering action to operators. Of course, the operators should decide a final action by their judgment supported by other available supporting functions of the INS. To implement such a supporting function, the authors have developed a collision avoidance expert system for such the INS. In this paper, the structure of developed knowledge bases, the inference procedure, the brush-up of the developed knowledge bases using ship handling simulator, and some simulation results are reported. Some concepts and methods concerned to this knowledge base system, such as the classification of the target ships, the unblocking scope of the ship handling space and the prediction of plural actions of target ships, are proposed. The conclusion is that the developed collision avoidance expert system possesses sophisticated problem solving ability for the collision avoidance and it can provide an effective support for operators' decision-making.

Towards an integrated and synergized social policy: Concepts and strategies

Abstract In first reviewing the most recent trends of social policy in Western Europe, the present article argues that social policy is best conceived of as a plural action system that enhances the interactions between community care and intermediary welfare organizations and does this within the framework of a welfare state working as an Observation‐Diagnosis‐Guidance system. Social policies for the 1990s can be better understood, planned, and implemented if seen as a new way for steering social systems.

伝播現象としての社会変動

Diffusion is an important concept in the individualistic social theory. Because, in this theory, social change is recognized as frequency transition of action strategies of individuals, and frequency transition is mediated by diffusson. Diffusion could happen among individuals, groups, and societies; we analyse establishment of social security system as a diffusion process of single action strategy among societies. Five social security services are analysed with regression analysis of logistic function. As a result, two services are proved to be in diffusion processes. To advance the study of diffusion process, frequency transition of plural action strategies in a game situation must be done.

The Roots of the Plural Action Verb in the Dravidian Languages

Study of the plural action verb reveals how it reflects general principles of comparative Dravidian grammar. A new synchronic analysis serves as the basis of a new etymology of this form in South-Central Dravidian. It is shown to be descended from the echo compound verb through a series of elementary steps. Compound Verb Contraction is first applied to the echo compound verb, creating a synthetic form out of an analytic one. Subsequent restructuring brings this contracted form into line with the morphological and lexical constraints on the words in these languages. The formal and semantic correspondences are presented and explained in detail. The new etymology entails rejecting the reconstruction of a system of verb stem derivation to Proto-Dravidian. It also illustrates the extent to which emotive language such as the echo compound verb is integrated into the grammar of the Dravidian languages, and participates in their historical development.

Combination effects of Shosaikoto (Chinese traditional medicine) and prednisolone on the anti-inflammatory action.

Effects of combined use of Shosaikoto (one of the famous crude Chinese medicines) and prednisolone were examined in anti-inflammatory effects, using the carrageenan edema and the cotton pellet methods. Shosaikoto and prednisolone were orally given to rats or mice at the dose of 1.1 g/kg (corresponding to 10 times the usual human dose) for the former and 1.0, 4.0 and 16.0 mg/kg for the latter. Shosaikoto showed the mild anti-inflammatory action and significantly increased the anti-inflammatory effect of prednisolone in both experimental models. In cotton pellet method, combined use of Shosaikoto inhibited the decrease of adrenal weight induced by prednisolone. To clarify the mechanism of combined effects of prednisolone and Shosaikoto, the effects of Shosaikoto on the blood prednisolone level and on the secretion of endogenous glucocorticoid (corticosterone) were investigated by high performance liquid chromatography. The blood prednisolone level 20 min after the combined administration of Shosaikoto with prednisolone, 16 mg/kg, was about 2 times comparing with that of single administration of prednisolone. The half life period of blood prednisolone after the single administration of prednisolone was about 2 times comparing with that of the combined administration of Shosaikoto with prednisolone. On the other hand, the single administration of Shosaikoto increased the blood corticosterone level 1 h after the administration with significant manner. The increasing activity of Shosaikoto on the anti-inflammatory effect of prednisolone may be explained by its plural actions.

Plural actions of allergens. A problem in purification and standardization.

Plural actions of allergens. A problem in purification and standardization.

Studies in Dravidian Verb Stem Formation

A. Voice derivation, with special attention to the intransitive suffix *-Vr-, which is productive in Kurux and Malto, and occurs as a relic elsewhere in Dravidian. B. The plural action bases of Pengo-Kuwi, and their occurrence as relic forms elsewhere in Dravidian, with special reference to Gondi, Konda, and Kurux-Malto. C. The motion bases of PengoKuwi; their origin in the non-past suffix *-kk-/*-k-. D. The personal object bases of Pengo-Kuwi; their origin in an auxiliary construction of *ta-/*tarto give to 1st or 2nd