This paper investigates the semantics of measure phrases in Japanese. Based on new data, we argue that the interpretation of measure phrases in Japanese is sensitive to scale structure such that (i) measure phrases are introduced by a degree morpheme that selects only for gradable predicates whose scale contains a minimal element (i.e., a lower closed scale) and (ii) violations to this restriction are repaired via coercion, which forces a comparative interpretation with a contextually determined standard and hence a minimal (...) element. We compare the Japanese facts to data in other languages and argue that the requirement of having a minimal element is not specific to Japanese, but universal. We show that languages may vary in how they deal with potential violations of this universal constraint, including coercion of a contextually recoverable derived minimal element (Japanese), ungrammaticality (e.g., Spanish, Korean, Russian), and a hybrid system of ungrammaticality for some adjectives and allowed constraint violation for others (e.g., English, German, Italian). (shrink)

This study investigates the meanings of the Japanese low-degree modifiers _kasukani_ ‘faintly’ and _honokani_ ‘approx. faintly’ and the English low-degree modifier _faintly_. I argue that, unlike typical low-degree modifiers such as _sukoshi_ ‘a bit’ in Japanese and _a bit_ in English, they are sense-based in that they not only semantically denote a small degree but also convey that the judge (typically the speaker) measures the degree of predicates based on their own sense (the senses of sight, smell, taste, etc.) at (...) the level of conventional implicature (CI) (e.g., Grice (in: Cole, Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and semantics iii: speech acts, Academic Press, New York, 1975), Potts (The logic of conventional implicatures, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005), McCready (Semant Pragmat 3:1–57, 2010. https://doi.org/10.3765/sp.3.8, Sawada (Pragmatic aspects of scalar modifiers. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago, 2010), Gutzmann (Empir Issues Syntax Semant 8:123–141, 2011)). I will also show that there are variations among the sense-based low-degree modifiers with regard to (i) the kind of sense, (ii) the presence/absence of positive evaluativity, and (iii) the possibility of direct measurement of emotion and will explain the variations in relation to the CI component. A unique feature of sense-based low-degree modifiers is that they can indirectly measure the degree of non-sense-based predicates (e.g., emotion) through sense (e.g., perception). I show that the proposed analysis can also explain the indirect measurement in a unified way. This paper shows that like predicates of personal taste such as _tasty_ (e.g., Pearson (J Semant 30(1):103–154, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1093/jos/ffs001 ), Ninan (Proc Semant Linguist Theory, 24:290–304, 2014. https://doi.org/10.3765/salt.v24i0.2413 ), Willer & Kennedy (Inquiry, 1–37, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2020.1850338 )), sense-based low-degree modifiers trigger acquaintance inference. The difference between them is that, unlike predicates of personal taste, sense-based low-degree modifiers co-occur with gradable predicates and their experiential components signal the manner/way in which the degree of the predicate in question is measured. (shrink)

本書は、生活者のハピネス(豊かさや幸せ)の視点から科学技術や社会の変革を考える『因果関係から相関へ、個別技術からシステムへ』と題した『武田シンポジウム2018』の内容をまとめたものです。昨今最も注目を 浴びている科学技術である「AI」、「免疫システム研究」、「民間宇宙ロケット開発」の3つと異なる切り口から、ビッグデータと言われる時代の科学の方法論、個の集積以上の意味をもつシステムとしてのアプローチに ついて立体的に考察します。.

Fuzzy logic has become an important tool for a number of different applications ranging from the control of engineering systems to artificial intelligence. In this concise introduction, the author presents a succinct guide to the basic ideas of fuzzy logic, fuzzy sets, fuzzy relations, and fuzzy reasoning, and shows how they may be applied. The book culminates in a chapter which describes fuzzy logic control: the design of intelligent control systems using fuzzy if-then rules which make use of human knowledge (...) and experience to behave in a manner similar to a human controller. Throughout, the level of mathematical knowledge required is kept basic and the concepts are illustrated with numerous diagrams to aid in comprehension. As a result, all those curious to know more about fuzzy concepts and their real-world application will find this a good place to start. (shrink)

The Japanese comparative adverb motto has two different uses. In the degree use, motto compares two individuals and denotes that there is a large gap between the target and a given standard with a norm-related presupposition. On the other hand, in the so-called ‘negative use’ it conveys the speaker’s attitude toward the utterance situation. I argue that similarly to the degree motto, the negative motto is a comparative morpheme, but unlike the degree motto it compares a current situation and an (...) expected situation at the level of conventional implicature /expressive. I argue that the speaker’s negative evaluation of the utterance situation in question comes from the large gap between the expected degree and the current degree. The theoretical implications of this paper are that there is a natural extension from semantic comparison to expressive comparison and that there is a type in natural language that can be called an ‘indirect expressive’, as opposed to ‘direct expressives’ like bastard and man. (shrink)

The Christian philosopher Muto Kazuo contributed substantially to the predominantly Buddhist “Kyoto School of Philosophy.” Through critical exchange with its representatives, he opened up new perceptions of Christian faith, enabled mutual understanding between Buddhism and Christianity, and challenged the Western dialectical method.

京都を知る，アルゴリズムを知る。アルゴリズムとはそもそも，何か物事を行うときの“具体的手順”のことである。私たちは日々，意識するかしないかに関わらず，次々とアルゴリズムの設計をしながら生活をしている。 本書は，岩間一雄教授が京都の町を題材にアルゴリズムの思考を伝える，読み物的手法をとった数学書である。読者はその奥深い世界へと誘われてゆくだろう。 巻末には本書で取り上げた京都関連の名所・行事などの索引があり，逆引きで読んでいくことができる。 【目次】 1．斜め横断 2．アイドルタイム 3．人事部長の悩み 4．チームワーク 5．神様との勝負 6．アルゴリズムからメカニズムへ 7．一番でなくとも 8．千年に1回も起こらない 9．自分のページランクを上げたい 10．対話のアルゴリズム 11．ビットコインの素晴らしさ 12．P対NP問題：ノーベル賞以上？ 13．アルゴリズムから見た進化論.

日本古来の神々の色、陰陽五行説の色、武将たちに愛された色、雅な平安の色、粋な大江戸の色彩から、昭和の流行色まで、ビジュアルで辿る日本の色を探る旅。.

This article discusses the serious problem of the shortage of about 50 000 nurses in Japan today. If efficient measures to solve it are not adopted by administrators, it is clear that the shortage will become still more alarming in the future, in a society with more people in advanced years and in which the numbers in the younger generation will decrease from now on. The main factors behind the Japanese nursing labour shortage are, among others: a rapid increase in (...) the number of hospital beds between 1986 and 1989; poor working conditions; and nurses’ low social position in their places of work. Behind these factors, there has always been a contempt for the art of nursing in our society. Why has Japanese society made light of nursing? Three points can be identified: traditional discrimination against women; our disregard for a religious mentality; and our short history of hospital nursing. To overcome these problems, we must first of all change fundamentally our sense of values, such as love for one another and compassion. We must now reconstruct a caring culture in our society. (shrink)