Precise Wording Research Articles

‘Where is the Promise of his Coming?’ The Complaint of the Scoffers in 2 Peter 3.4

A close analysis of the report of 2 Pet 3.4, paying attention to its precise wording, and a careful reading of the author's response to it in the verses that follow show that the prevailing interpretation of the scoffers' eschatological mockery is unsound. The target of the scoffers' criticism was not so much the parousia of Jesus as the OT promise of a final, eschatological irruption underlying it. Their scepticism was founded neither on the failure of Jesus to come back within a generation, nor on a denial of divine intervention. Rather, it was based on the long period of time that had elapsed since the promise was originally made and the assumption that the eschatological promise involved the prospect of cosmic destruction, which the scoffers rejected on philosophical grounds.

Neural systems for word meaning modulated by semantic ambiguity

One important issue in neuroimaging research on language is how the brain processes and represents lexical semantics. Past studies with various paradigms reveal that the left inferior prefrontal and mid-superior temporal regions play a crucial role in semantic processing. Those studies, however, typically utilize words having a precise and dominant meaning as stimuli and have not manipulated lexico-semantic ambiguity, a key feature of human language, as an experimental variable. Here, we used a word generation paradigm to examine whether neuroanatomical networks for meaning are modulated by lexical ambiguity. We found that, compared with semantically precise words, semantically ambiguous words were mediated by strong brain activations in the left dorsal–lateral frontal areas, the anterior cingulate, and the right inferior parietal lobe. Semantically precise words, instead, were associated with the left inferior prefrontal and mid-superior temporal sites. These findings indicate that semantic analysis of written words is a dynamic process involving coordination of widely distributed neural subsystems, which are weighted by semantic ambiguity.

Democratizing Canadian foreign policy? NGO participation for the Copenhagen summit for social development and the Beijing conference on women

In 1995 the UN convened two major international meetings: the Copenhagen Summit for Social Development – the first ever global summit on poverty – and the Beijing Conference on Women – the largest conference in UN history. In keeping with the Liberal Government's 1993 campaign promise to democratize the Canadian foreign policy‐making process, government‐sponsored mechanisms were established to facilitate NGO preparations for both the Summit and the Conference. The article compares and contrasts these two sets of mechanisms and assesses the extent to which they facilitated meaningful NGO participation that was taken seriously by government decision‐makers, and offered real opportunities for influencing policy outcomes. It concludes that each set of mechanisms facilitated extensive NGO participation by diverse groups from across Canada and benefited both the Canadian government and the NGOs. The mechanisms did not enable NGOs to affect Canada's broad objectives or the guidelines for its official negotiators. There were, nonetheless, differences in the degree to which the NGOs in each case were able to affect outcomes. Whereas the mechanisms established for the Copenhagen Summit enabled the NGOs to influence the precise wording proposed by the Canadian government negotiators at the Preparatory Commission meetings, the Beijing mechanisms did not result in NGO influence over either the direction or substance of Canada's official policies. Both cases illustrate the need to situate studies in the context of more macro‐level trends in Canadian policy‐making.

CEO and CFO Certifications of Financial Information

Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Marshall A. Geiger, Porcher L. Taylor; CEO and CFO Certifications of Financial Information. Accounting Horizons 1 December 2003; 17 (4): 357–368. doi: https://doi.org/10.2308/acch.2003.17.4.357 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest Search

System for navigation and editing of electronic records through speech and audio

The present invention provides speech and audio user-computer interface mechanisms for accessing and editing information in electronic records. A mechanism is provided by which the user can direct inputs to any of a variety of fields without following a predetermined order of input. This allows the user to be proactive in making entries rather than simply reacting to requirements set by computer-generated prompts. Audio is provided as feedback to the user, not as a fixed path prompt for the user. This feedback can be in the form of non-verbal auditory signals or synthesized speech. The invention uses audio to inform the user of whether or not the system understood the spoken words or phrases as valid inputs to the electronic record, what the system recognized as the input, and to identify the contents of various fields in the electronic record. The precise wording for the speech inputs can be changed from one implementation of the invention to another, depending on what terminology is most meaningful to users, works best with the speech recognition engine being used, etc. Likewise, the audio outputs from the system, both nonverbal sounds and synthesized speech, used in implementing this invention can vary from one application to another.

A Case Study of the Sociopolitical Dilemmas of Gullah-speaking Students: Educational Policies and Practices

Most of the languages spoken along the West African coastline are different from European languages but similar to Black English. Gullah, a West African and English Creole language, still spoken today on the sea islands of South Carolina and Georgia, is the predecessor of American Black English which is most similar to the languages of West Africa. Early research in reading comprehension and science language development has supported the belief that divergent language usage, such as Gullah, has a negative impact on the visible demonstration of academic reading achievement (Goodman, 1965; Hunt, 1975). Unfortunately, the educational system has been insensitive and ineffective in addressing the issue of the language differences between Black English and White English. Qualitative case study (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998) was chosen because we needed students with extreme examples of non-traditional English to illustrate easily the patterns that emerged. For all the students, description through language was a very complex issue. Often they omitted words or did not know the specific content words to complete a description. While their indigenous language patterns created holistic pictures, they did not use the exact or precise word to communicate the appropriate meaning to those unfamiliar with their language.

Analysis of definitions and word misusage in vascular pathology

Science being the search for truth or factual knowledge pertaining to nature and human health, accurate and precise word usage is prerequisite to avoid unintentional misrepresentation in scientific communication. The increasing frequency of word misusage necessitates review of a number of definitions and frequently misused words in vascular pathology. Correction of such errors is essential to foster accurate, standardized definitions. Otherwise scientific progress is delayed, the unwary are misled and fallacious data and concepts are propagated. Adherence to correct word usage facilitates the development of logic and precision so essential in education and in scientific thinking and literature, whereas consistently misused words ultimately become meaningless and unusable.

Decoding ethics

Professional associations of archaeologists and anthropologists have produced numerous codes of ethics in recent years. Their compilation is motivated as much by the desire to promote standardized professional practice as a wish to enshrine correct ethical responses. The precise wording of these is often minutely scrutinized (although not minutely enough, I argue), but their overall purpose, status or value is rarely considered. This paper considers that the formulation of ethical codes is of limited value and may even be counter-productive. The ambiguities and problems in interpreting concepts such as ‘respect’, ‘indigenous’ and ‘compromise’ are never explored or even acknowledged. Instead, the complexities of genuine ethical dilemmas, when contradictory or incompatible values collide, are circumvented or ignored. Codes of ethics fail to provide a clear guide to practice in cases of profound and complex conflicts of interest. Instead, it is argued here that ethics are historical and contextual; appropriate responses to ethical dilemmas should be developed on a case-by-case basis and require thought, debate and discussion, rather than the application of a rule. Codes of ethics promote conservatism and conformity, reinforce the power of hegemonic institutions and pre-empt ethical debate. Moreover, because they pretend to supra-contextual applicability, several of the principles enshrined in ethical codes could easily be used to support racist or otherwise politically objectionable movements.

Decoding ethics

Professional associations of archaeologists and anthropologists have produced numerous codes of ethics in recent years. Their compilation is motivated as much by the desire to promote standardized professional practice as a wish to enshrine correct ethical responses. The precise wording of these is often minutely scrutinized (although not minutely enough, I argue), but their overall purpose, status or value is rarely considered. This paper considers that the formulation of ethical codes is of limited value and may even be counter-productive. The ambiguities and problems in interpreting concepts such as ‘respect’, ‘indigenous’ and ‘compromise’ are never explored or even acknowledged. Instead, the complexities of genuine ethical dilemmas, when contradictory or incompatible values collide, are circumvented or ignored. Codes of ethics fail to provide a clear guide to practice in cases of profound and complex conflicts of interest. Instead, it is argued here that ethics are historical and contextual; appropriate responses to ethical dilemmas should be developed on a case-by-case basis and require thought, debate and discussion, rather than the application of a rule. Codes of ethics promote conservatism and conformity, reinforce the power of hegemonic institutions and pre-empt ethical debate. Moreover, because they pretend to supra-contextual applicability, several of the principles enshrined in ethical codes could easily be used to support racist or otherwise politically objectionable movements.

Holy Scripture in the Qumran Commentaries and Pauline Letters

Holy Scripture in the Qumran Commentaries and Letters, by Timothy H. lam. Oxford: Clarendon, 1997. Pp. xiv + 221. $75.00. In this revision of his 1991 Oxford dissertation, Timothy H. Lim attempts locate the position of the Qumran pesharim and letters within the continuum of biblical composition, rewritten bible, and bible interpretation that characterizes exegesis by asking to what extent Paul and the pesherists modified the wording of their scriptural quotations (p. 9). In two brief chapters of Prolegomena, Lim outlines the aims of his study and sketches the significance for his investigation of a postQumran perspective on the history of the biblical text. He places particular emphasis on the extent to which the plurality of text-types and the multitude of textual variants in existence at the turn of the era complicate any effort to establish that an exegete has modified the wording of his Vorlage rather than simply followed a textual variant already in existence. Lim seeks both to develop a method that will identify clear cases of authorial adaptation of the biblical text and to identify the underlying hermeneutical principles that motivate such alterations. Two more introductory chapters follow in which Lim explores Aspects of Ancient Bible Interpretation. Although he notes a tension in postbiblical interpreters between the desire to preserve tradition and the impulse to adapt it to the contemporary situation, Lim finds evidence of a widespread concern to safeguard the precise wording of the biblical text (chapter 3). In chapter 4, he argues that both the pesharim and Paul's letters evince a concern to preserve the exact words of scripture. In each case, he provides one example to support his contention: 1QpHab xi 8-14 and Gal 3:16 (a passage that, unfortunately, is hardly characteristic of Paul's practice of scriptural interpretation). Having laid the groundwork for his study, Lim turns in part 3 (chapters 5-7) to an examination of Exegesis and Hermeneutics and in part 4 (chapters 8-10) to a study of Pauline Interpretation of the Bible. - A final chapter draws the work to a close with a three-page comparison of Paul and the Qumran commentators. Part 3 is by far the strongest section of the book. Lim's mastery of the material is evident. His complete collation of the lemmata of the sixteen continuous pesharim with the MT (chapter 5) will be of lasting value to scholars. His discussion of the problems inherent in determining the Vorlage of the pesharim is thoughtful and judicious. Although he finds that, on average, the pesharim exhibit an 11-percent variance from the MT, Lim argues that classifying their Vorlagen as proto-Masoretic texts still does not allow one to identify exegetical modifications of the biblical text with any certainty, given the degree of textual fluidity even within the proto-Masoretic text-type. Consequently, he proposes in chapter 6 a method of identifying adaptations to the biblical text that relies entirely on evidence to the pesharim (i.e., variant readings in lemma and commentary; the internal coherence-usually grammatical-of an alleged variant with the pesher). Given this conservative methodology, Lim is able to find in the pesharim only seven instances of possible alterations to the biblical text, two of which he admits are debatable at best. When in chapter 7 Lim steps back to consider the implications of his findings for understanding the Nature of Pesherite Interpretation, his analysis is far less convincing. He takes his seven examples as evidence of a clear willingness on the part of the pesherists to cross the threshold from commentary to composition [of scripture] by modifying the wording of the biblical text (p. 110). Yet of these seven, only two (#1, #3) would appear to be compelling instances (according to Lim's criteria) of significant alterations to the wording of scripture. …

Max Weber's “Grand Sociology”: The Origins and Composition of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Soziologie

Max Weber's magnum opus Economy and Society (Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Soziologie) was for the most part published only after his premature death in June 1920. Only the chapters on basic sociological terms, the categories of social action, and the Three Types of Legitimate Domination were sent to the publishers by Weber himself; the other manuscripts were found in a pile on his desk. The editions by Marianne Weber and Melchior Palyi and by Johannes F. Winckelmann are in many ways unsatisfactory, and the controversy about the correct composition of Economy and Society persists. This article reconstructs the origins of the various texts of Economy and Society on the basis of the available source material, notably the correspondence between Weber, Marianne Weber, and the publishers. It shows that in many ways the editions available at present do not live up to Max Weber's own intentions. Both the arrangement and the precise wording of the texts are unreliable, and the time sequence of the texts written from 1909 to 1914 and then in part rewritten and reorganized in 1919–1920 is uncertain. A segment of an earlier draft of parts of the chapter on Communities (Gemeinschaften) found among Weber's papers allows the conclusion that as early as 1905–1906, Weber had outlined a universal historical scheme of all known civilizations. This is to say that Economy and Society is not as closely linked to Weber's work on the Outline of Social Economics (Grundriss der Sozialkonomic) as has been previously assumed. This article offers a precise reconstruction of the complicated history of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Soziologie—the exact title agreed upon by Weber and his publisher Paul Siebeck shortly before his death. It shows the development ofWeber's theoretical conceptions and the corresponding changes of his terminology much more clearly, and paves the way to a better understanding of his magnum opus.

Writing History: A Guide for Students

This concise guide for undergraduate writers of history papers offers a wealth of tips and advice to help students sharpen their writing skills in general and to understand writing conventions unique to history specifically. Beginning with how historians find topics and research them, the book covers how to interpret source materials, draw inferences, and construct arguments. The book also includes clear, practical suggestions for avoiding plagiarism, learning citation styles, writing effective sentences, using precise wording, and revising.

Leadlines May Be Better than Traditional Headlines

Newspaper headlines are difficult and costly to write and often dangerous to publish. Headlines can mislead readers and sometimes hurt feelings and provoke lawsuits.(1) Leadlines - the lead of the story set in display type and used like a headline - are not commonly used by newspapers now but may be an alternative that avoids many headline problems and saves time and money. This experimental research asks whether leadlines could complement current headline practices as an effective way to introduce and communicate story information on newspaper pages. Literature review Headline and lead functions Journalism textbooks and professional articles point out that headlines and leads perform similar tasks.(2) In fact, the headline/lead literature lists at least 23 functions, many shared by both headlines and leads. These 23 functions were divided with 83 percent agreement into three sets by three professional journalists. They selected six functions that sold the story to the reader. They were: attracts attention to the story; conveys a sense of immediacy; urges reading of story; creates a vivid story impression; lures the reader into the full story and indicates the reward for reading the story. Ten functions communicated the meaning or content of the story: summarizes story content; sets story tone or mood; communicates information effectively; tells the main idea of the story; reveals major points immediately; clear and easy to understand; accurate in fact; focus and tone; uses specific, precise wording; logical and makes sense; and concise and right to the point. Another seven functions serve graphic or display functions on the page. They are: indicates importance of the story; makes the page more attractive; makes the page more modern; separates stories on the page; helps scanning of the page; provides cues on nature of the newspaper and indexes stories on the page. Headline and lead problems creation and use of newspaper headlines is a time consuming, costly and difficult professional task. Doug Underwood, C. Anthony Giffard and Keith Stamm, in a study of the impact of computers on the newspaper editing process showed that headlines are probably taking more time to write and edit now than before computers.(3) About 28 percent of their respondents said that writing headlines takes more time now compared to about 13 percent who reported less time. Editors also said there was less time available for headline work. authors further noted: ... as the percentage of time spent on what were formerly backshop activities goes up, the priority placed on a number of important journalistic tasks goes down.(4) Randall Hines and Jerry Hilliard, in a study of editorial quality, examined the extent to which Tennessee newspapers observed established guidelines for writing headlines. They learned that dailies failed to observe traditional guidelines about 30 percent of the time and non-dailies about 40 percent.(5) Theodore E. Conover, in his book on graphics, condemned headlines claiming that The traditional headline form is difficult to write and often it is necessary to use inaccurate or inappropriate words because of the rigid unit count.(6) Headlines are error prone. In a 1964 study of inaccuracies in one week's issue of the Gainesville (Florida) Sun it was shown that headlines contained incorrect facts (42 percent of errors) and distortion and exaggeration (34 percent of errors).(7) Similar problems with newspaper leads are often presented as journalistic errors to be avoided. For example, Fred Fedler, John Bender and Lucinda Davenport provide a list of problems lead writers should avoid.(8) And Carol Rich lists 10 defective lead types.(9) Melvin Mencher reports that advertising and news writers share headline and lead problems. Advertising copywriters say that finding the few words for the headline or lead-ins is the toughest part of the job. …

Current Canadian Constitutionalism and the 1865 Confederation Debates

The purpose of this article is to examine the debates of 1865 in the hope of illuminating some dark corners of the exhausting constitutional quarrels that have dominated Canadian politics for the past two decades. By the Confederation debates of 1865, I mean the debates of the 8th Provincial Parliament of Canada, which were held during February and March of 1865 in Quebec City. These debates focused on a set of resolutions adopted by delegates from Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island at a conference also held in Quebec City during the previous October. These resolutions led eventually to the British North America (BNA) Act of 1867. The reader might wonder why I turn--of all places--to the debates for enlightenment on a contemporary crisis. Having read all 1,032 pages of these debates, I harbor the suspicion that I belong to a very exclusive club of North American academic eccentrics and, as an American, I expect that mine is a very small subset of this club. My most recent work has analyzed contemporary problems in terms of certain themes evident in the founding periods of the United States and of the Fifth French Republic.(1) Following the lead of Hannah Arendt, I believe that, for many western nations, founding periods are normative and that those who study such periods often discover events, arguments, and principles that illuminate a nation's subsequent development.(2) To apply this idea to Canada presents a problem I did not encounter in studying the United States or the Fifth Republic. Despite the importance of the Declaration of Independence in American history, it is the drafting of the Constitution of the United States in 1787 and the subsequent debates over its ratification that define the founding of the present American Republic. Although the origins of France itself trail off into some dim and distant past, there can be no doubt that the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958. In studying the founding of the present regimes in France and the United States, I knew at once where to turn. With Canada, it was not as simple. The Proclamation Act, the Quebec Act, and the Act of Union present worthy challenges to as the founding period of Canada and, even if these challengers are ultimately exposed as impostors, the period itself harbors enough important events--most notably, the crucial meeting in Quebec City in October 1864--to make the debates something less than the sole contender for serious study of Canada's founding.(3) Despite these methodological problems, I shall focus exclusively on the debates of 1865.(4) I do so because no other event from the period has records as complete as these and, more importantly, because these records reveal a sustained level of serious--and at times profound--public argument which, I believe, is unequalled in Canadian constitutional history. In the months preceding the 1995 Quebec Referendum, considerable attention was lavished upon the precise wording of the text to be submitted to the people. At first, the debate focused on the speculative question of what it would be and, once this was known, what it should have been.(5) Federalists argued that their opponents had deliberately muddied the waters, misleading Quebeckers into thinking that they could live in a sovereign Quebec that somehow remained part of Canada. The federalist strategy was to reduce the question to a stark dichotomy: either you are in or you are out--a formulation sovereigntists wisely ignored. Both sides invoked such powerful symbols as Canadian passports and currency to support their respective positions. Post-election analysis revealed that substantial numbers of Yes voters thought that a sovereign Quebec would in some way or other remain part of Canada, despite the scoldings they received from stern federalists for being so illogical. Although no end to the crisis is in sight, I cannot help thinking that when the end comes, it will appear--much to the chagrin of ideologues of all stripes--in some hopelessly illogical compromise, whose sole merit will be that it works. …

Silver, not sterling: a comment on Mayhew's velocity

Monetary history is little loved and often finds few suitors, so it may perhaps seem churlish to call attention to a disagreement with a fellow practitioner. Mayhew graciously cited several of my articles on sixteenthcentury monetary matters in his recent article' in this journal. At the risk of appearing ungrateful, I am impelled to offer some clarification of my views and methods while not disagreeing directly with his results. He is quite correct in observing that, in comparing bullion supplies, bullion prices, the velocity of circulation of bullion, and the level of transactions during some years of the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, I concluded that the V term (velocity in the Fisher equation MV = PT) had increased in the latter century and that in the absence of such an increase, bullion prices would have fallen rather than risen during the so-called price revolution. My precise words were as follows:

Where do we go from here? [bioelectromagnetic effects

An enquiring skeptic who studies the history of bioelectromagnetics may well come to the conclusion that, any particular region of the spectrum, there is a recurring cycle of discovery. It goes something like this. First exploratory work indicates there seems to be an interesting biological exposure to that portion of the spectrum. This precise wording of the phrase in inverted commas is itself important and requires explanation. The term rather than the term hazard is used because it is broader and because an must be presumed neutral until proven otherwise, besides, while one fears to find a hazardous effect, one could conceivably find a beneficial one. Further, the term associated with is used rather than the term caused by since the proof of causation is rather more difficult to achieve than the observation of association. Finally, the modifier low is of extreme importance: sufficiently strong ELF magnetic fields can, in principle, induce life threatening eddy currents in a torso; and microwaves can be used for cooking; but the public worry arises over the possibility of hazards which are neither overtly electrophysiological nor overtly thermal. Second, this observation of an interesting bioeffect level exposure excites comment; and the field seems poised for a breakthrough. Third, other workers eagerly endeavor to verify, extend, or explain the original report. Fourth (occasionally), the effect is confirmed and, its bases having been elucidated, is adjudged not all that startling or worrisome after all. Too often, the effect is not confirmed, and interest in it gradually wanes.

Prosecutorial ethics under the Reno rule: Authorized by law?

In some future case challenging attorney conduct in the course of a state-court trial, we may need to define with greater precision the weight to be given to recognized canons of ethics ... (1) Since at least 1908, state ethics rules have prohibited attorneys from communicating with persons represented by another attorney about the subject of that representation.(2) Today, all fifty states and the District of Columbia recognize this prohibition, known as the in one form or another.(3) While its precise wording and interpretation vary widely across jurisdictions,(4) the gist of the no-contact rule remains the same in virtually every state: unless permitted by opposing counsel or authorized by law, ex parte contact with a represented person about the subject of that representation is strictly forbidden.(5) The no-contact rule, along with most other ethics rules, is codified at both state and federal levels.(6) Courts and state bar associations aggressively enforce the rule, disciplining attorneys for unintentional contact, client-initiated contact--even attempted contact with a represented person.(7) Not everyone in the legal community has acquiesced in the no-contact rule's broad reach, however. Since 1980, the Department of justice (DOJ) has contended that its 7,000-plus federal prosecutors are exempt from the no-contact rule altogether.(8) Until the past five years or so, the Justice Department's position received relatively little attention.(9) That changed when its stance became official policy in 1989,(10) following a memorandum issued by then-Attorney General Dick to all Justice Department litigators.(11) The Thornburgh Memorandum, as the document came to be known, purported to exempt from the no-contact rule all federal prosecutors engaged in legitimate law enforcement activities.(12) Invoking the Supremacy Clause, the Justice Department maintained that states were precluded from regulating DOJ attorneys in ways that could interfere with their statutory responsibilities to enforce federal law.(13) The Memorandum sent shock waves throughout the legal community.(14) The Defense Bar Association, joined by the American Bar Association and others, condemned the move as a wink of encouragement for federal prosecutors to toss ethical considerations aside whenever doing so might help obtain a conviction.(15) Courts, too, were scathing in their response. To many judges, the Memorandum was itseLf an unconstitutional theft of judicial authority, clearly undeserving of the preemptive power of federal law.(16) After all, it was only a memorandum. Until this past year, that is. Under the direction of current Attorney General Janet Reno, the Department of Justice recently codified a slightly modified version of the Memorandum into a Departmental regulation, which I refer to below as the Rule.(17) Effective as of September 6,1994, the Reno Rule marks the zenith of a fourteen-year attempt by the Justice Department to exempt federal prosecutors from the no-contact rule. Not surprisingly, the Rule has sparked a debate of constitutional proportions, implicating both the Supremacy Clause and the separation of powers principle in a battle that may ultimately alter the balance of power between the state and federal governments--at least regarding the regulation of U.S. attorneys.(18) Despite otherwise intense disagreement on this issue,(19) both sides to the Reno Rule debate seem to agree on one point: unless resolved by Congress, the Reno Rule's authority to exempt federal prosecutors from the no-contact rule will be settled in court, perhaps the nation's highest.(20) That being the case, the justice Department's legal defense of the Reno Rule, as offered in the Rule itself, is certainly worthy of examination. In the analysis that follows, I undertake that examination, arguing that the Justice Department's position is analytically flawed in considering separately the Reno Rule's statutory authority and preemptive power over state laws. …

Style Matters

Style is distinct from correctness be cause it is concerned not with observing the conventions of a language, but with choosing among alternate sentence structures and word choices that are equally correct to produce graceful, clear writing. Nor is style a decorative overlay on the content of writing. Style is the very expression of content. The two can hardly be separated. Just as there is no such thing as a neutral dialect?everybody speaks a dialect, whether aware of it or not?there is no such thing as writing without style. Even technical documents, which are er roneously considered style-less, are written with style. Technical writers, just like novelists, essayists, and poets, make stylistic decisions?choosing pre cise words, deciding how much infor mation to put in a sentence, avoiding awkward repetitions of sounds. Style encompasses more than I can attempt to cover in this article. Besides word choice, figurative language, and sound, style also involves relationships among sentences and between the flow of information and the reader's expec tations. Although I will be touching on some of these aspects of style, I want to focus on the sentence. It is the easiest unit to work with and tells us most of what we need to know.

Taking life seriously: a study of the argument of the Nicomachean ethics

This is the first book in modern times that makes sense of the Nicomachean Ethics in its entirety as an interesting philosophical argument, rather than as a compilation of relatively independent essays. In Taking Life Seriously Francis Sparshott expounds Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics as a single continuous argument, a chain of reasoned exposition on the problems of human life. He guides the reader through the whole text passage by passage, showing how every part of it makes sense in the light of what has gone before, as well as indicating problems in Aristotle's argument. No knowledge of Greek is required. When the argument does depend on the precise wording of the Greek text, translations and explanatory notes are provided, and there is a glossary of Greek terms. Sparshott offers insightful and useful criticism, making Taking Life Seriously the best available companion to a first reading of the Ethics.

Improving Business Ethics with the Sapir-Whorf-Korzybski Hypothesis in Business Communication Classes

Abstract There has been an apparently notable decline of ethics in the business world and, accompanying that decline, an increase in the acceptability of words that connote violence. These words are those commonly associated with corporate warfare terminology and military metaphors. Though such words may not directly cause violent behavior, the antisocial climate thus created can readily stimulate unethical behavior in the business community. Furthermore, evidence will be presented that suggests that the use of specific language can influence the way people think. In this article, I propose that business communication instructors give greater attention to discouraging words that connote violence and include general semantics training to sensitize students to the importance of appropriate and precise wording. Additionally, research should be conducted to determine if that attention and training will improve business ethics.