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"Hutton, Christopher"
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Language, meaning and the law
Language, Meaning, and the Law clearly covers debates concerning linguistic meaning and interpretation in relation to legal language. Law is an ideal domain for studying fundamental questions relating to how we assign meanings to words, understand and comment on texts, and deal with socially and ideologically significant questions of interpretation. This book argues that theoretical issues of concern to linguists, philosophers, literary theorists, and others are made vivid by the demands of the legal context, since law is driven by the need for practical solutions and for determinate outcomes based on explicit reasoning. Topics covered include: the relationship between linguistics and legal theory, indeterminacy and statutory interpretation, the theory and practice of using dictionaries in law, defamation and language in the public sphere, and the distinction between perjury and deception.
eBook
Linguistics and the Third Reich
This book presents an insightful account of the academic politics of the Nazi era and analyses the work of selected linguists, including Jos Trier and Leo Weisgerber. Hutton situates Nazi linguistics within the politics of Hitler's state and within the history of modern linguistics.
eBook
Definition in Theory and Practice
The problem of definition has a long history and has engaged the minds of some of the most eminent thinkers in the Western tradition, from Plato and Aristotle onwards.But it is also an everyday problem constantly confronting all who have to draft or interpret the countless texts on which modern society depends.
eBook
Signs, Meaning and Experience
Integrationism offers a radically contextual approach to the sign and represents a direct challenge to academic linguistics. This book sets out for the general reader its key claims and insights and explores criticisms offered of its approach, as well as the paradoxes that arise from its attack on the notion of linguistic expertise. For the first time integrationism is subjected to an extended contrastive analysis with semiotics.
eBook
On the effects of improved cross-section representation in one-dimensional flow routing models applied to ephemeral rivers
Flash floods are an important component of the semiarid hydrological cycle, and provide the potential for groundwater recharge as well as posing a dangerous natural hazard. A number of catchment models have been applied to flash flood prediction; however, in general they perform poorly. This study has investigated whether the incorporation of light detection and ranging (lidar) derived data into the structure of a 1-D flow routing model can improve the prediction of flash floods in ephemeral channels. Two versions of this model, one based on an existing trapezoidal representation of cross-section morphology (K-Tr), and one that uses lidar data (K-Li) were applied to 5 discrete runoff events measured at two locations on the main channel of The Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed, United States. In general, K-Li showed improved performance in comparison to K-Tr, both when each model was calibrated to individual events and during an evaluation phase when the models (and parameter sets) were applied across events. Sensitivity analysis identified that the K-Li model also had more consistency in behavioral parameter sets across runoff events. In contrast, parameter interaction within K-Tr resulted in poorly constrained behavioral parameter sets across the multidimensional parameter space. These results, revealed with a modeling focus on the structure of a particular element of a distributed catchment model, suggest that lidar derived cross-section morphology can lead to improved, and more robust flash flood prediction.
Journal Article
Assessing the value of seasonal hydrological forecasts for improving water resource management: insights from a pilot application in the UK
Improved skill of long-range weather forecasts has motivated an increasing effort towards developing seasonal hydrological forecasting systems across Europe. Among other purposes, such forecasting systems are expected to support better water management decisions. In this paper we evaluate the potential use of a real-time optimization system (RTOS) informed by seasonal forecasts in a water supply system in the UK. For this purpose, we simulate the performances of the RTOS fed by ECMWF seasonal forecasting systems (SEAS5) over the past 10 years, and we compare them to a benchmark operation that mimics the common practices for reservoir operation in the UK. We also attempt to link the improvement of system performances, i.e. the forecast value, to the forecast skill (measured by the mean error and the continuous ranked probability skill score) as well as to the bias correction of the meteorological forcing, the decision maker priorities, the hydrological conditions and the forecast ensemble size. We find that in particular the decision maker priorities and the hydrological conditions exert a strong influence on the forecast skill–value relationship. For the (realistic) scenario where the decision maker prioritizes the water resource availability over energy cost reductions, we identify clear operational benefits from using seasonal forecasts, provided that forecast uncertainty is explicitly considered by optimizing against an ensemble of 25 equiprobable forecasts. These operational benefits are also observed when the ensemble size is reduced up to a certain limit. However, when comparing the use of ECMWF-SEAS5 products to ensemble streamflow prediction (ESP), which is more easily derived from historical weather data, we find that ESP remains a hard-to-beat reference, not only in terms of skill but also in terms of value.
Journal Article
Linkability, Personhood and State Modernity: Understanding the Affordances of Personal Identity across Different Legal Regimes
\"Linkability\" is a technical term in data protection, referring to the ability of a third party to draw a connection between a person and a piece of data. The pattern of linkability may show that two apparently separate identities refer back to the same individual (e.g., a Twitter account and a Facebook account), or reveal a link a credit card and a travel pass, or a myriad of other linkages between data and individual identities. This article argues that linkability offers a more informative way of understanding legal personhood than traditional frameworks. Attempts to find a doctrinal grounding for personhood, for example, in privacy or self-ownership, fall into circularity. The \"natural\" versus \"fictional\" duality used to characterize the distinction between a person in being and a corporate person has given rise to fascinating but inconclusive ontological debates. It is suggested here that a relational understanding of the affordances that integrate personhood into a jurisdictional order reveals the underlying deep structure of legally constituted and recognized identities. The cases of the United States and India as common law jurisdictions and the People's Republic of China, a civil law jurisdiction with a Leninist understanding of the state, are analyzed.
Journal Article
A longitudinal evaluation of the benefits and challenges for mentors in an online peer mentoring scheme
The benefits of peer mentoring for students studying in Higher Education are well established. However, there is less research on the motivations, benefits and challenges for peer mentors working as volunteers, particularly in online distance learning settings. Here, we present the findings of a longitudinal, mixed methods study (2019–2021) on undergraduate Earth and Environmental Science modules at The Open University, UK. Peer mentors (students who had recently passed the module) completed one questionnaire before and another after a period of providing non-academic asynchronous support to students via a forum in a virtual learning environment. The questionnaires established the challenges and benefits for the mentors and were followed up by focus groups to enrich and triangulate the findings. Most mentors remained committed throughout, and identified a number of benefits and few, if any challenges. While mentors recognised and valued their skills development, there was uncertainty as to what extent they recognised employability skills. Further work is required to investigate this and help mentors appreciate and exploit the added value of developing employability skills. Finally, mentors’ expectations before starting were shown to be similar to their actual experience, comparable to face-to-face mentoring programmes at other Higher Education Institutions. Overall, the positive nature of mentors’ experiences is a contributory factor to the peer mentoring scheme’s sustainable success.
Journal Article