Action In Context

The book illustrates the concept of action in three different contexts - the justification of actions, people's life history, and pragmatism. The special feature of this book is that a comprehensive view of this kind marks a departure from the atomistic approach of action theory, which in itself raises a number of questions. If actions are not justified by mental states, how can persons then act for reasons? How can persons' actions over time be described, and what is the connection with the question of personal identity? If there is to be a unified understanding of the person, does the practical have to take precedence over the theoretical, and what does this mean for epistemology, for example? The ten contributors to this volume engage in an instructive manner with these and similar questions in the three sections of the book.

The book illustrates the concept of action in three different contexts - the justification of actions, people's life history, and pragmatism. The special feature of this book is that a comprehensive view of this kind marks a departure from the atomistic approach of action theory, which in itself raises a number of questions. If actions are not justified by mental states, how can persons then act for reasons? How can persons' actions over time be described, and what is the connection with the question of personal identity? If there is to be a unified understanding of the person, does the practical have to take precedence over the theoretical, and what does this mean for epistemology, for example? The ten contributors to this volume engage in an instructive manner with these and similar questions in the three sections of the book.

Most contributions to this volume originated as papers given at an inter national conference on Integrative Perspectives on Youth Development held in Berlin (West) in May, 1983. This conference was part of a 6-year longi tudinal research program on the causes of substance use among adolescents in Berlin, which is now in its fourth year. The conference title deliberately did not refer to substance use. However, its relevance to an explanation of drug-related problem behavior was made evident to everyone invited to the conference. The search for integrative perspectives in youth development originated in a dilemma that became obvious during the planning of intensive research on concomitants of substance use. In the methodology for research on youth development, there were two lines of thought that seemed completely unre lated to each other: One line of thought was oriented toward the person, leaving situational aspects aside, while the other concentrated on ecological or situational determinants and thus neglected the aspects of development and internal processes. The integration of both these directions seemed to be an unusually promising approach for any project that aimed to understand changes in the individual within a rapidly changing urban setting. The best way to come closer to a resolution of that dilemma seemed to be an intensive exchange between the American and European scientific communities on this issue.

Context is a central concept in organization and management studies, yet it is often used in a generalized, unspecific manner. This book offers an interactionist view on context as a dynamic, relational, and socially enacted phenomenon. It explores context in action and the theoretical, methodological, and analytical consequences of this approach through a collection of reflections and research experiences from the dynamic field of health care. In the opening chapters, the editors present their framework for studying context in action and outline three main approaches, centered on the following questions: What constitutes context for a phenomenon or an event? How do actors understand, experience, and engage with context? How do contexts change and what is the role of actors in such processes? Context and action are then explored through a range of topics such as enactment and organizational change, policy implementation, executive work, strategic change, materiality, technology, patients and relatives' perspectives, integrated care, quality improvement, and health care support work. Relevant to both management researchers and practitioners, this volume provides a definition of context as theoretical construct based on interactionist and process based perspectives, and a practical framework for studying context in action which the reader can use in their own work.

First Published in 1987. This book provides an outline for a descriptive basis for the study of human communication by advocating a pragmatic approach to communication, based on the study of language use in context. It covers work on verbal communication in many disciplines, and represents a variety of underlying assumptions and methods of analysis. This book blends both European and North American scholarship for a broadly focused analysis in a form suitable for beginners and those looking to expand their established understanding.

Identities in Context is a comprehensive guide to contemporary discursive research on issues relating to identity across a variety of contexts. Provides a comprehensive guide to contemporary discursive research on identity Introduces themes and concepts in a structured way that allows readers to easier assimilate the different aspects of discourse and identity Offers a narrative account of how discursive research has contributed to the understanding of various phenomena, such as interactions in legal and health care settings Features several reader-friendly aids, including chapter outlines and a glossary of terms and concepts

Even the simplest social interactions require us to gather, integrate, and act upon, multiple streams of information about others and our surroundings. In this Element, we discuss how perceptual processes provide us with an accurate account of action-relevant information in social contexts. We overview contemporary theories and research that explores how: (1) individuals perceive others' mental states and actions, (2) individuals perceive affordances for themselves, others, and the dyad, and (3) how social contexts guide our attention to modulate what we perceive. Finally, we review work on the cognitive mechanisms that make joint action possible and discuss their links to perception.

To make sense of the world, we’re always trying to place things in context, whether our environment is physical, cultural, or something else altogether. Now that we live among digital, always-networked products, apps, and places, context is more complicated than ever—starting with "where" and "who" we are. This practical, insightful book provides a powerful toolset to help information architects, UX professionals, and web and app designers understand and solve the many challenges of contextual ambiguity in the products and services they create. You’ll discover not only how to design for a given context, but also how design participates in making context. Learn how people perceive context when touching and navigating digital environments See how labels, relationships, and rules work as building blocks for context Find out how to make better sense of cross-channel, multi-device products or services Discover how language creates infrastructure in organizations, software, and the Internet of Things Learn models for figuring out the contextual angles of any user experience

A new theory of human behaviour, with three core ingredients: language, interaction, and social accountability.

The roots of pragmatics reach back to Antiquity, especially to rhetoric as one of the three liberal arts. However, until the end of the 18th century proto-pragmatic insights tended to be consigned to the pragmatic, that is rhetoric, wastepaper basket and thus excluded from serious philosophical consideration. It can be said that pragmatics was conceived between 1780 and 1830 in Britain, but also in Germany and in France in post-Lockian and post-Kantian philosophies of language. These early ‘conceptions’ of pragmatics are described in the first part of the book. The second part of the book looks at pragmatic insights made between 1830 and 1880, when they were once more relegated to the philosophical and linguistic underground. The main stage was then occupied by a fact-hunting historical comparative linguistics on the one hand and a newly spiritualised philosophy on the other. In the last part the period between 1880 and 1930 is presented, when pragmatic insights flourished and were sought after systematically. This was due in part to a new upsurge in empiricism, positivism and later behaviourism in philosophy, linguistics and psychology. Between 1780 and 1930 philosophers, psychologists, sociologists and linguists came to see that language could only be studied in the context of dialogue, in the context of human life and finally as being a kind of human action itself.