17.203 LLC 18.2; new books; commentary

From: Humanist Discussion Group (by way of Willard McCarty willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk)
Date: Wed Aug 27 2003 - 05:00:35 EDT

  • Next message: Humanist Discussion Group (by way of Willard McCarty

                   Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 17, No. 203.
           Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
                       www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
                            www.princeton.edu/humanist/
                         Submit to: humanist@princeton.edu

       [1] From: oup@oup.co.uk (55)
             Subject: toc for Literary and Linguistic Computing 18-2

       [2] From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk> (422)
             Subject: new books

       [3] From: Arun-Kumar Tripathi (41)
                     <tripathi@amadeus.statistik.uni-dortmund.de>
             Subject: Hubert Dreyfus on Expertise

       [4] From: Arun-Kumar Tripathi (37)
                     <tripathi@amadeus.statistik.uni-dortmund.de>
             Subject: Notion of (dis)embodied Cyberspace

    --[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
             Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 09:32:41 +0100
             From: oup@oup.co.uk
             Subject: toc for Literary and Linguistic Computing 18-2

    Literary and Linguistic Computing -- Table of Contents Alert

    A new issue of Literary and Linguistic Computing
    has been made available:

    June 2003; Vol. 18, No. 2

    URL: http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Article
    The Open Language Archives Community: An Infrastructure for Distributed
    Archiving of Language Resources
    Gary Simons and Steven Bird, pp. 117-128

    http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/180117.sgm.abs.html

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Article
    Charles Brockden Brown: Quantitative Analysis and Literary Interpretation
    Larry L. Stewart, pp. 129-138

    http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/180129.sgm.abs.html

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Article
    New Philology and New Phylogeny: Aspects of a Critical Electronic Edition
    of Wolfram's Parzival
    Michael Stolz, pp. 139-150

    http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/180139.sgm.abs.html

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Article
    Witnessing Dickinson's Witnesses
    Lara Vetter and Jarom McDonald, pp. 151-165

    http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/180151.sgm.abs.html

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Article
    Special Section: Reconceiving Text Analysis: Toward an Algorithmic Criticism
    Stephen Ramsay, pp. 167-174

    http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/180167.sgm.abs.html

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    Article
    Computer-Assisted Reading: Reconceiving Text Analysis
    Stéfan Sinclair, pp. 175-184

    http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/180175.sgm.abs.html

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    Article
    Finding a Middle Ground between 'Determinism` and 'Aesthetic
    Indeterminacy`: a Model for Text Analysis Tools
    John Bradley, pp. 185-207

    http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/180185.sgm.abs.html

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Article
    What is Text Analysis, Really?
    Geoffrey Rockwell, pp. 209-219

    http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/180209.sgm.abs.html

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Article
    Afterword
    Thomas N. Corns, pp. 221-223

    http://www3.oup.co.uk/litlin/hdb/Volume_18/Issue_02/180221.sgm.abs.html

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Erratum pp. 225-233

    --[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
             Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 09:38:43 +0100
             From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk>
             Subject: new books

    (1)
    Content-Based Video Retrieval
    A Database Perspective

    by

    Milan Petkovi?
    Philips Research, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Willem Jonker
    University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS -- 25

    Recent advances in computing, communication, and data storage have led
    to an increasing number of large digital libraries publicly available on
    the Internet. In addition to alphanumeric data, other modalities,
    including video play an important role in these libraries. Ordinary
    techniques will not retrieve required information from the enormous mass
    of data stored in digital video libraries. Instead of words, a video
    retrieval system deals with collections of video records. Therefore, the
    system is confronted with the problem of video understanding. The system
    gathers key information from a video in order to allow users to query
    semantics instead of raw video data or video features. Users expect
    tools that automatically understand and manipulate the video content in
    the same structured way as a traditional database manages numeric and
    textual data. Consequently, content-based search and retrieval of video
    data becomes a challenging and important problem. This book focuses
    particularly on content-based video retrieval. After addressing basic
    concepts and techniques in the field, Content-BasedVideo Retrieval: A
    Database Perspective concentrates on the semantic gap problem, i.e., the
    problem of inferring semantics from raw video data, as the main problem
    of content-based video retrieval. This book identifies and proposes the
    integrated use of three different techniques to bridge the semantic gap,
    namely, spatio-temporal formalization methods, hidden Markov models, and
    dynamic Bayesian networks. As the problem is approached from a database
    perspective, the emphasis evolves from a database management system into
    a video database management system. This system allows a user to
    retrieve the desired video sequence among voluminous amounts of video
    data in an efficient and semantically meaningful way. This book also
    presents a modeling framework and a prototype of a content-based video
    management system that integrates the three methods and provides
    efficient, flexible, and scalable content-based video retrieval. The
    proposed approach is validated in the domain of sport videos for which
    some experimental results are presented. Content-Based Video Retrieval:
    A Database Perspective is designed for a professional audience, composed
    of researchers and practitioners in industry. This book is also suitable
    as a secondary text for graduate-level students in computer science and
    electrical engineering.

    Hardbound ISBN: 1-4020-7617-7 Date: August 2003 Pages: 168 pp. EURO
    90.00 / USD 100.00 / GBP 62.00

    (2)
    Trends in Logic
    50 Years Studia Logica

    edited by

    Vincent F. Hendricks
    Dept. of Philosophy and Science Studies, University of Roskilde, Denmark

    Jacek Malinowski
    Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, The Polish Academy of Sciences,
    Warsaw, Poland

    TRENDS IN LOGIC -- 21

    In 1953, exactly 50 years ago to this day, the first volume of
    StudiaLogica appeared under the auspices of The Philosophical Committee
    of The Polish Academy of Sciences. Now, 5 decades later the present
    volume is dedicated to a celebration of this 50th Anniversary of Studia
    Logica. The volume features a series of papers by distinguished scholars
    reflecting both the aim and scope of this journal for symbolic logic.
    The Anniversary volume offers contributions from J. van Benthem, W.
    Buszkowski, M.L. Dalla Chiara, M. Fitting, J.M. Font, R. Giuntini, R.
    Goldblatt, V. Marra, D. Mundici, R. Leporini, S.P. Odintsov, H. Ono, G.
    Priest, H. Wansing, V.R. Wojcicki and J. Zygmunt.

    CONTENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS
    Preface. 50 Years of Studia Logica: Editorial Introduction; V.F.Hendricks,
    J. Malinowski. Polish Logic in Post-war Period; V.R.WF3jcicki, J. Zygmunt.

    Fifty Years: Changes and Constants in Logic; J. van Benthem. Generalized
    Matrices in Abstract Algebraic Logic; J.M. Font. Intensional Logic
    Beyond First Order; M. Fitting. Questions of Canonicity; R. Goldblatt.
    Lukasiewicz Logic and Chang's MV Algebras in Action; V. Marra, D.
    Mundici. Substructural Logics and Residuated Lattices: an Introduction;
    H. Ono. Quantum Computational Logics: A Survey; M.L. Dalla Chiara, R.
    Giuntini, R. Leporini. Inconsistent Arithmetics: Issues Technical and
    Philosophical; G.Priest. Inconsistency-tolerant Description Logic:
    Motivation and Basic Systems; S.P. Odintsov, H. Wansing. Type Logics in
    Grammar; W.Buszkowski.

    Hardbound ISBN: 1-4020-1601-8 Date: September 2003 Pages: 392 pp.
    EURO 135.00 / USD 149.00 / GBP 93.00

    (3)
    Formal Descriptions of Developing Systems

    edited by

    James Nation
    Dept. of Mathematics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA

    Irina Trofimova
    Collective Intelligence Lab, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

    John D. Rand
    Dept. of Mathematics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA

    William Sulis
    Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University,
    Hamilton, Canada

    NATO SCIENCE SERIES: II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry -- 121

    A cutting-edge survey of formal methods directed specifically at dealing
    with the deep mathematical problems engendered by the study of
    developing systems, in particular dealing with developing phase spaces,
    changing components, structures and functionalities, and the problem of
    emergence. Several papers deal with the modelling of particular
    experimental situations in population biology, economics and plant and
    muscle developments in addition to purely theoretical approaches. Novel
    approaches include differential inclusions and viability theory, growth
    tensors, archetypal dynamics, ensembles with variable structures, and
    complex system models. The papers represent the work of theoreticians
    and experimental biologists, psychologists and economists. The areas
    covered embrace complex systems, the development of artificial life,
    mathematics, computer science, biology and psychology.

    Hardbound ISBN: 1-4020-1567-4 Date: September 2003 Pages: 320 pp.
    EURO 135.00 / USD 149.00 / GBP 93.00

    Paperback ISBN: 1-4020-1568-2 Date: September 2003 Pages: 320 pp.
    EURO 62.00 / USD 68.00 / GBP 43.00

    (4)
    Non-Projecting Words
    A Case Study of Swedish Particles

    by

    Ida Toivonen
    Dept. of Linguistics, University ofCanterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    STUDIES IN NATURAL LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTIC THEORY -- 58

    Focusing primarily on Swedish, a Germanic language whose particles have
    not previously been studied extensively, Non-Projecting Words: ACase
    Study on Swedish Particles develops a theory of non-projecting words in
    which particles are morphologically independent words that do not
    project phrases. Particles have long constituted a puzzle for Germanic
    syntax, as they exhibit properties of both morphological and syntactic
    constructs. Although non-projecting words have appeared in the
    literature before, it has gone largely unnoticed that such structures
    violate the basic tenets of X-bar theory. This work identifies these
    violations and develops a formally explicit revision of X-bar theory
    that can accommodate the requisite "weak" projections. The resulting
    theory, stated in terms of Lexical-Functional Grammar, also yields a
    novel classification of clitics, and it sheds new light on a range of
    recent theoretical proposals, including economy, multi-word
    constructions, and the primitives of lexical semantics. At an abstract
    level, we see that the modular, parallel-projection architecture of LFG
    is essential to the description of a variety of otherwise recalcitrant
    facts about non-projecting words.

    Hardbound ISBN: 1-4020-1531-3 Date: September 2003 Pages: 256 pp.
    EURO 97.00 / USD 107.00 / GBP 67.00

    (5)
    Molecular and Structural Archaeology: Cosmetic and Therapeutic Chemicals

    edited by

    Georges Tsoucaris
    Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des MusE9es de France - C.N.R.S.,
    Paris, France

    Janusz Lipkowski
    Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa,
      Poland

    NATO SCIENCE SERIES: II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry -- 117

    The book delineates the contours of molecular and structural archaeology
    as an emergent interdisciplinary field based on structural analysis at
    the molecular level and examines novel methodologies to reconstruct the
    synthesis and long-term transformation of materials used in antiquity.
    The focus of this volume is on cosmetic and therapeutic materials. As
    such, it casts an entirely new light on the knowledge possessed by the
    ancients, based on the complete identification of complex materials and
    preparations found in closed vessels in ancient tombs. It appears that
    as early as 2000 BCE the necessary technology was available to conduct
    wet chemical synthesis of new compounds not known as natural products.
    The materials as we analyze them today, of course, have their own prior
    history, and disentangling the effects of extreme long-term storage
    forms part of the puzzle, which may possibly be resolved by means of
    simulation experiments.

    Hardbound ISBN: 1-4020-1498-8 Date: September 2003 Pages: 296 pp.
    EURO 108.00 / USD 199.00 / GBP 75.00

    Dr Willard McCarty | Senior Lecturer | Centre for Computing in the
    Humanities | King's College London | Strand | London WC2R 2LS || +44 (0)20
    7848-2784 fax: -2980 || willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk
    www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/wlm/

    --[3]------------------------------------------------------------------
             Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 09:40:39 +0100
             From: Arun-Kumar Tripathi
    <tripathi@amadeus.statistik.uni-dortmund.de>
             Subject: Hubert Dreyfus on Expertise

    Dear Dr. McCarty,

    In-relevance to the Dr. Hubert Dreyfus's reading of Phenomenology -I would
    like to share a paper with humanist scholars. Recently, Dr. Evan Selinger
    (The name of his supervisor is Prof. Don Ihde), Department of Philosophy,
    Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA and Dr. Robert Crease,
    Department of Philosophy, Stony Brook University, have written a critique
    of Dr. Dreyfus's Phenomenology of Skill Acquisition, as "Dreyfus on
    expertise: The limits of phenomenological analysis." Their article is
    published in the Continental Philosophy Review journal with issue 35 (3):
    245-279, July 2002.

    [In the] abstract, [authors say] Dreyfus's model of expert skill
    acquisition is philosophically important because it shifts the focus on
    expertise away from its social and technical externalization in STS, and
    its relegation to the historical and psychological context of discovery in
    the classical philosophy of science, to universal structures of embodied
    cognition and affect. In doing so he explains why experts are not best
    described as ideologues and why their authority is not exclusively based
    on social networking. Moreover, by phenomenologically analyzing expertise
    from a first person perspective, he reveals the limitations of, and
    sometimes superficial treatment that comes from, investigating expertise
    from a third person perspective. Thus, he [Hubert Dreyfus] shows that
    expertise is a prime example of a subject that is essential to science but
    can only be fully elaborated with the aid of phenomenological tools.
    However, both Dreyfus's descriptive model and his normative claims are
    flawed due to the lack of hermeneutical sensitivity. [Authors claim] He
    [Hubert Dreyfus] assumes an expert's knowledge has crystallized out of
    contextual sensitivity plus experience, and that an expert has shed,
    during the training process, whatever prejudices, ideologies, hidden
    agendas, or other forms of cultural embeddedness, that person might have
    begun with. One would never imagine, from Dreyfus's account, that society
    could possibly be endangered by experts, only how society's expectations
    and actions could endanger experts. The stories of actual controversies
    not only shows things do not work the way Dreyfus claims, but also that it
    would be less salutary if they did. Such stories amount to counterexamples
    to Dreyfus's normative claims, and point to serious shortcomings in his
    arguments.

    If any humanist scholar would like to read the full paper on Dreyfus's
    critique as "Dreyfus on expertise: The limits of phenomenological
    analysis" -Please free to send me an e-mail. Thank you in advance.

    Best regards, Arun Tripathi

    --
    

    --[4]------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 09:41:36 +0100 From: Arun-Kumar Tripathi <tripathi@amadeus.statistik.uni-dortmund.de> Subject: Notion of (dis)embodied Cyberspace

    Greetings humanist scholars,

    Following two worthy quotes: "Virtual Reality is a literal enactment of Cartesian ontology, cocooning a person as an isolated subject within a field of sensations and claiming that everything is there, presented to the subject." (Richard Coyne: Designing Information Technology in the Postmodern Age: From Method to Metaphor, MIT Press, 1995)

    "The possession of a body in space, itself part of the space to be apprehended, and that body capable of self-motion in counterplay with other bodies, is the precondition for a vision of the world." (Hans Jonas: The Phenomenon of Life, Uni. of Chicago Press, 1982)

    ..here are some points to question the necessity of (dis)embodiment in cyberspace..

    The idea of "disembodied" is impossible in playing games (or in cyberspace) while it is essential phenomenon of embeddedness of human experience through the body in the world. One is always "in" one's body, even if one is in front of a computer screen and has the sense of soaring through a 3-dimensional virtual reality space. So, if organic body (a player or I) sitting (or playing games) there gets hungry or sleepy or dies, the "virtual" experience is going to be disturbed by state of "real" non-virtual (physical) body. In one sense is "embodied" in playing games even apart from the real organic body. If one enters a virtual reality games like the one Case enters in Neuromancer (science fiction written by William Gibson in 1984), one does have a "virtual" body that enters that space--flying, soaring, walking, turning, moving. But there is still a sense of a body, not the "real" body sitting in front of the screen, but a virtual body doing all sorts of things that maybe the meat in front of the computer can't do. So phenomenologically one has a body in playing games (or in cyberspace), though it's not the same body, phenomenologically, as the one sitting in front of the screen getting hungry or thirsty or sleepy. We don't experience "cyberspace" or "playing games" as really being "disembodied," but only as having different kinds of bodies--freer, more mobile, perhaps. But we still experience ourselves as embodied, moving in time and space, perceiving a world.

    Thoughts and comments are most welcome.

    Best Wishes, Yours Arun Tripathi --



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