On 6 Feb, at 7:58 , Patrick Durusau wrote: (01)
> I am *not* arguing for infinite regress but I am arguing that one
> should
> acknowledge that every formal language or model makes claims which it
> does not justify because that would lead to the very infinite regress
> that you point out. (02)
You appear to be using "language" and "model" in ways that differ
from how Pat is using them. By a language he means a formal
language, like the language for OWL or a dialect of Common Logic. A
language in this sense is a formal artifact. It does not "make
claims", though, given an interpretation of the language, it can be
*used* by an agent to make claims by asserting certain sentences of
the language. A language determines a basic lexicon and a set of
expressions (character sequences) deemed well-formed by the grammar
of the language. Similarly, a model in Pat's sense is a mathematical
structure that interprets the well-formed expressions of the language
and in particular makes some set of sentences true (according to well-
defined semantical rules). Models also do not "make claims". (03)
> As I said above, the point may have been too minor to be noticed. My
> point was that no matter how formal or labored over a formal
> language or
> model may be, it remains *a* view and has no greater claim to being
> free
> from unstated assumptions than any other. (04)
Perhaps what you have in mind are *theories*, i.e., sets of sentences
in a given language. Relative to some interpretation, the sentences
might well express a "view" -- a particular take on the nature of
time, or human physiology, or whatever -- a.k.a, an ontology. Your
comments about claims and assumptions and the like have to do with
sentences, not formal languages and models. (05)
Chris Menzel (06)
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