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AbstractThe Minimalist Program in generative linguistics is predicated on the idea that simplicity is a defining property of the human language faculty, on the one hand; on the other, a central aim of linguistic theorising. Worryingly, however, justifications for either claim are hard to come by in the literature. We sketch a proposal that would allow for both shortcomings to be addressed, and that furthermore honours the program's declared commitment to naturalism. We begin by teasing apart and clarifying the different conceptions of simplicity underlying generative inquiry, in both ontological and theoretical capacities. We then trace a path towards a more robust justification for each type of simplicity principle, drawing on recent work in cognitive science and in philosophy of science, respectively. The resulting proposal hinges on the idea that simplicity is an evolved, virtuous cognitive bias—one that is a condition of our scientific understanding and, ultimately, of successful scientific practice. Finally, we make a case for why minimalists should take this proposal seriously, on the one hand; and for why generative linguistics would make for an interesting case study for philosophy of science, on the other.

Research from Shogan (2007) and Lim (2008) on the executive branch proposes that the American presidency has adopted an anti-intellectual approach to leadership, such that there is a concerted rejection of thoughtful political discourse from the president. This has been reflected by what appears to be a relative decline in both the linguistic and substantive complexity of presidential rhetoric. Shogan's (2007) work, while focused on examining whether Republicans are more apt to employ anti-intellectual leadership than Democrats, raises an additional topic worthy of empirical examination: the potential relationship between anti-intellectual leadership and unilateral action from the president. If anti-intellectual leadership is a defiant form of leadership that opts to publicly demonstrate the rejection of external expertise, the usage of anti-intellectual rhetoric from the president might be able to predict the usage of unilateral action. On the other hand, anti-intellectual rhetoric might be used as a straightforward and quick means to explain unilateral action, such that change in the level of unilateral action can predict the usage of simplistic rhetoric. Unfortunately, no one has yet to empirically test whether rhetorical simplicity predicts unilateral action, unilateral action predicts rhetorical simplicity, or there is a multi-directional relationship present. This project makes an initial attempt to remedy this gap in the literature. The project contrasts the monthly average simplicity level of the presidential weekly public address with the monthly number of executive orders emanating from the executive branch, using information spanning between February 1993 and May 2015. The initial findings from the vector autoregression and moving average representation analyses suggest that prior change in rhetorical simplicity predicts the usage of executive orders, and that an increase in rhetorical simplicity helps produce an increase in the number of executive orders offered by the president.

Research from Shogan (2007) and Lim (2008) on the executive branch proposes that the American presidency has adopted an anti-intellectual approach to leadership, such that there is a concerted rejection of thoughtful political discourse from the president. This has been reflected by what appears to be a relative decline in both the linguistic and substantive complexity of presidential rhetoric. Shogan's (2007) work, while focused on examining whether Republicans are more apt to employ anti-intellectual leadership than Democrats, raises an additional topic worthy of empirical examination: the potential relationship between anti-intellectual leadership and unilateral action from the president. If anti-intellectual leadership is a defiant form of leadership that opts to publicly demonstrate the rejection of external expertise, the usage of anti-intellectual rhetoric from the president might be able to predict the usage of unilateral action. On the other hand, anti-intellectual rhetoric might be used as a straightforward and quick means to explain unilateral action, such that change in the level of unilateral action can predict the usage of simplistic rhetoric. Unfortunately, no one has yet to empirically test whether rhetorical simplicity predicts unilateral action, unilateral action predicts rhetorical simplicity, or there is a multi-directional relationship present. This project makes an initial attempt to remedy this gap in the literature. The project contrasts the monthly average simplicity level of the presidential weekly public address with the monthly number of executive orders emanating from the executive branch, using information spanning between February 1993 and May 2015. The initial findings from the vector autoregression and moving average representation analyses suggest that prior change in rhetorical simplicity predicts the usage of executive orders, and that an increase in rhetorical simplicity helps produce an increase in the number of executive orders offered by the president.

"Einfachheit" gehört zu den maßgeblichen Wertzuschreibungen der Kunst-, Kultur- und Literaturgeschichte. Nadine Wisotzki greift das mit der "Sehnsucht nach Einfachheit" einhergehende Funktionalisierungspotential auf, um dem bemerkenswerten Erfolg der Einfachheit in der deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur nachzugehen. Am Beispiel des erzählerischen Werks von Judith Hermann, Peter Stamm und Robert Seethaler fragt sie, mit welcher Intention und Qualität sich die Einfachheit hier formiert und ob es sich bei der Kunst der Reduktion um ein spezifisch für die Gegenwart relevantes Konzept handelt. Damit leistet sie einen wesentlichen Beitrag zu der noch ausstehenden literaturwissenschaftlichen Systematisierung einer "Ästhetik der Einfachheit".

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of consumer purchase intention (CPI) of cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) in the countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes a research model of the antecedents of CPI on CBEC in BRI countries. Study participants were consumers with CBEC shopping experience in BRI-associated countries (n = 278). Structural equation modeling was used to test the research model.FindingsTrust has the greatest effect on CPI, while perceived security has the least effect. In addition, in BRI-associated countries, in contrast to the previous study, product presentation was found to have a significant positive influence on CPI in CBEC. Platform simplicity and logistic service have a significant positive influence on CPI. Practical implicationsThese findings offer important implications for CBEC. Consumers' trust in product providers has the greatest impact on CPI. Simplicity, timely shipment tracking and the fast delivery speed of the platform will increase CPI. The results suggest a highly successful tactic for enhancing consumers' perceptions of product authenticity and interest. Finally, this study provides insights into BRI. Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on CBEC. It explores the multilevel (i.e. product presentation, platform simplicity, logistic service, perceived security, and trust) determinants of CPI on CBEC. The study provides insights into the determinants of CPI in BRI countries.

The purpose of the article is a stylistic analysis of Agha Nasir's autobiography, to aware the readers about the unique and comprehensive style in Agha Nasir's autobiography. The author used common people's language in his autobiography. His style from 'Agha to Agha Nasir' is aphoristic; there is incessant and permanent pleasure. He presented bitter political panorama in an alluring way to readers. Characteristics of numerous style are present in his autobiography, which distinguish him from other writers. His autobiography occupies all literary aspests. It possesses significance position in Urdu literature, due to his simplicity of style. Its simplicity and comprehensiveness made it rival to other autobiographies in Urdu litearure. There are many autobiogrphies in Urdu literature but a few of them meet literary requirements. Agha Nasir's biography is distinguished because of its alluring and simple style. Agha Nasir presented his style in a new way to his readers. He beautified his style by deep observation and artistic grasp. His diction is encyclopedic and ephoristic.This is the reason that reader connot collapse thier attention while reading autobiography from ' Agha to Agha Nasir' and they keep themselves inebriate. His writing style, which contains simple style, comprehensiveness and ephorism, all these qualities are the cause of its papularity.

This article discusses minimalism and slow life as examples of anti-consumer-oriented social practices. The author presents the assumptions of minimalism and slow life (their similarities and differences), compares minimalism with the idea of voluntary simplicity (comparing mainly their systems of values), describes minimalism as a project of the self, and distinguishes a few variants—radical, economic, and luxury minimalism. The analysis is based on minimalist literature.

AbstractEconomists and lawyers trained in economics tend to speak about regulation from a perspective organized around the basic norm of optimization. In contrast, an important managerial literature espouses a perspective organized around the basic norm of reliability. The perspectives are not logically inconsistent, but the economist's view sometimes leads in practice to a preoccupation with decisional simplicity and cost minimization at the expense of complex judgment and learning. Drawing on a literature often ignored by economists and lawyers, I elaborate the contrast between the optimization and reliability perspectives. I then show how the contrast illuminates current discussions of the reform of bank regulation.

Purpose
Greater contribution of voluntary simplicity to sustainability may extend beyond the scope of consumption behavior. This paper aims to argue that work behavior is also important and it explores how and why personal consumption of the voluntary simplifiers relates to the way they work.


Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study uses in-depth interviews to explore the consumption–work experience relationship and driving values of voluntary simplifiers. Thailand is the chosen context, as it represents an emerging economy aiming to converge economic growth and sufficiency.


Findings
The findings demonstrate that, driven mainly by contentment and integrity, simple living complements leisurely, meaningful and, most intriguingly, ethical work. In return, such work behavior provides enough earnings and fulfills the beginners, as well as the progressive and extensive simplifiers.


Research limitations/implications
The consumption–work relationship model of the voluntary simplifiers provides an alternative starting point for further research and practice to tackle overconsumption, inequality, inequity and corruption – the critical challenges of sustainability.


Originality/value
This research takes a more complete approach to study the voluntary simplifiers. The empirical results demonstrate the greater scope of voluntary simplicity literature beyond sustainable consumption and work–life balance. Based on the consumption–work relationship driven mainly by contentment and integrity, this paper proposes meaningful and ethical work as the promising contribution of voluntary simplicity to sustainability.

Governments settle their financial obligations and pay for the public expenditures largely through finances generated from taxes. For many developing countries like Pakistan, the state authorities are still having difficulty to achieve tax compliance. Existing literature has yet to traverse individual's tax compliance behavior on developing countries. The current study, however, explores the relationships among voluntary tax compliance behavior of individual taxpayers with selected economic, social, behavioral and institutional factors. This individual tax compliance behavior is studied through the multi-perspective lenses of the theory of attribution, equity theory, expected utility theory, and social exchange theory. Quantitative design using the survey method was employed to collect data from 435 individual taxpayers through questionnaire. For testing linkage between constructs, through mediation and moderation tests, structural equation modeling technique was used. The results suggest that tax compliance simplicity has a larger impact on tax filing than perception about Government Spending and tax morale. Furthermore, perception of fairness significantly mediates the strengths between morale, simplicity, government spending and compliance behavior.

Why do residents of Western world live off-the-grid? This paper provides answers to this question. The expression 'off-the-grid', refers to the living condition of a household or a community lying outside the electricity infrastructure, but often also denotes disconnection from other infrastructures such as municipal water conduits, natural gas pipelines, road networks, garbage and waste collection, food supply chains, and telecommunications. Drawing from and contributing to the literatures on rural geographies and voluntary simplicity we argue that while off-gridders embrace values typical of the voluntary simplicity philosophy, their biographical and geographical trajectories reveal that living off-grids is not a clear and free choice. The performance of the mundane complexities typical of the lifestyle renders off-grid living a uniquely radical, but also contradictory and even paradoxical, constellation of practices through which new marginal spatialities are constituted. Drawing from ethnographic fragments culled from a multisited ethnographic project unfolding across Canada we present a thickly descriptive look into the motives and lifestyles of off-gridders living in the Yukon.

This book is an important work in Holocaust literature and was originally published in Poland in 1967. Covering the years 1939-1945, it is the author's account of her experience growing up in the Warsaw ghetto and her eventual deportation to, imprisonment in, and survival of the Majdanek, Auschwitz, Ravensbruck, and Neustadt-Glewe camps. Since the old, the weak, and children were summarily executed by the Nazis in these camps, Mrs Birenbaum's survival and coming of age is all the more remarkable. Her story is told with simplicity and clarity and the new edition contains revisions made by the a.

This work inaugurates a critical inquiry into whether the ideas of Karl Popper, a philosopher of science, are used by astronomers and astrophysicists, a practicing community of scientists. It examines four basic components of Karl Popper's philosophy— falsification, prohibition, simplicity, and risk taking— and the extent that these themes become integrated into recent scientific literature on astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and stellar evolutionary theory. It concludes that the philosophy of science is highly relevant to the practice of astronomy, and that Karl Popper plays a unique role in directing different communities of astronomers and cosmologists.

In this article, the author argues that complexity theories have limited use in the study of society, and that social processes are too complex and particular to be rigorously modeled in complexity terms. Theories of social complexity are shown to be inadequately developed, and typical weaknesses in the literature on social complexity are discussed. Two stronger analyses, of Luhmann and of Harvey and Reed, are also critically considered. New considerations regarding social complexity are advanced, on the lines that simplicity, complexity that can be modeled, and incondensible complexity permeate society simultaneously. The difficulty of establishing complexity models for processes involving ongoing interpretation is discussed. It is argued that the notions of system and environment need recasting in social studies. Existing social studies and literature, it is argued, reflect a polymorphous, contextual, contingent, labyrinthine, dramatic and political face to social complexity. Students of social complexity must be literate in such studies.