Robert Morrissey

Bio: Robert Morrissey is an academic researcher from University of Chicago. The author has contributed to research in topics: Tree (data structure) & Cultural history. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 23 publications receiving 298 citations.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Transparency and Obstruction

Abstract: Jean Starobinski, one of Europe's foremost literary critics, examines the life that led Rousseau, who so passionately sought open, transparent communication with others, to accept and even foster obstacles that permitted him to withdraw into himself. First published in France in 1958, "Jean-Jacques Rousseau" remains Starobinski's most important achievement and, arguably, the most comprehensive book ever written on Rousseau. The text has been extensively revised for this edition and is published here along with seven essays on Rousseau that appeared between 1962 and 1970.

Constructive Visual Analytics for Text Similarity Detection

Abstract: Detecting similarity between texts is a frequently encountered text mining task. Because the measurement of similarity is typically composed of a number of metrics, and some measures are sensitive to subjective interpretation, a generic detector obtained using machine learning often has difficulties balancing the roles of different metrics according to the semantic context exhibited in a specific collection of texts. In order to facilitate human interaction in a visual analytics process for text similarity detection, we first map the problem of pairwise sequence comparison to that of image processing, allowing patterns of similarity to be visualized as a 2D pixelmap. We then devise a visual interface to enable users to construct and experiment with different detectors using primitive metrics, in a way similar to constructing an image processing pipeline. We deployed this new approach for the identification of commonplaces in 18th-century literary and print culture. Domain experts were then able to make use of the prototype system to derive new scholarly discoveries and generate new hypotheses.

To Quote or not to Quote: Citation Strategies in the Encyclopédie

Abstract: Ever since the first volume of the Encyclopedie was published in 1751, critics have complained about its liberal borrowings from other sources. This article explores some of the reasons why not citing other sources may have been an important publishing and philosophical strategy. Using a data-mining program that automatically flags likely matches between texts, we were able to identify thousands of citations and to discover clear citational patterns. Taking into account the complicated system of publishing permissions in Old Regime France, we show that many instances of non-citation occurred for books that were published anonymously and/or without a royal privilege. Accordingly, we argue that there was a “subversive style” of non-citation: by not identifying their references, contributors were able to incorporate into the Encyclopedie extensive passages of banned or forbidden books.

Discourses and Disciplines in the Enlightenment: Topic Modeling the French Encyclopédie

Abstract: This paper describes the use of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), or topic modeling, to explore the discursive makeup of the18th-century Encyclopedie of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert (1751-1772). Expanding upon previous work modeling the Encyclopedie’s ontology, or classification scheme, we examine the abstractions used by its editors to visualize the various ‘systems’ of knowledge that the work proposes, considered here as heuristic tools for navigating the complex information space of the Encyclopedie. Using these earlier experiments with supervised machine learning models as a point of reference, we introduce the notion of topic modeling as a ‘discourse analysis tool’ for Enlightenment studies. In so doing, we draw upon the tradition of post-structuralist French discourse analysis, one of the first fields to embrace computational approaches to discursive text analysis. Our particular use of LDA is thus aimed primarily at uncovering inter-disciplinary ‘discourses’ in the Encyclopedie that run alongside, under, above, and through the original classifications. By mapping these discourses and discursive practices we can begin to move beyond the organizational (and physical) limitations of the print edition, suggesting several possible avenues of future research. These experiments thus attest once again to the enduring relevance of the Encyclopedie as an exemplary Enlightenment text. Its rich dialogical structure, whether studied using traditional methods of close reading or through the algorithmic processes described in this paper, is perhaps only now coming fully to light thanks to recent developments in digital resources and methods.

The archaeology of knowledge

Abstract: We may not be able to make you love reading, but archaeology of knowledge will lead you to love reading starting from now. Book is the window to open the new world. The world that you want is in the better stage and level. World will always guide you to even the prestige stage of the life. You know, this is some of how reading will give you the kindness. In this case, more books you read more knowledge you know, but it can mean also the bore is full.

The Realist Tradition and the Limits of International Relations

Abstract: Williams, Mike, Realist Tradition and the Limits of International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp.ix+236 RAE2008

Decolonising International Law: Development, Economic Growth and the Politics of Universality

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Inaugurating a new rationality 3. From decolonisation to developmental nation state 4. From permanent sovereignty to investor protection 5. From the rule of international law to the internationalisation of the rule of law 6. Conclusion.