>Once again, doesn't the entire conversation boil down to the definitions of
>employee and person? (01)
Well, yes and no. Yes, in a sense, its all about saying exactly what
one means by 'employee' and 'person'. But no for several reasons. (02)
1. Its not really a matter of giving *definitions* of these terms
(its probably impossible to do that) so much as coming to an
agreement about how best to relate them, and what KIND of thing they
are. Is a person three-dimensional and fully existing at every moment
in time? Like a frame in a holographic movie? Or is a person
something that extends through time from the person's birth to the
person's death, a 4-dimensional entity? It is very unlikely that a
normal definition of 'person' would resolve this issue, but it is
absolutely essential to get it resolved when writing formal content. (03)
2. Its not 'boiling down': the issues being debated here about roles
vs properties, 4-d versus 3-d etc. would apply to any number of cases
like employee/person. That is only a handy example to hang the
discussion on. (04)
3. And its not a matter of giving definitions of (say) roles, either
(though that can be useful for the meta-discussion we are having).
Suppose someone defines 'role' crisply enough that we can all
understand what they mean. Still, the question arises of whether or
not we want to construct our ontology this way; and also of, if we
do, what kinds of property should be classified as roles. Even when
the definition is clear, whether or not something is an instance need
not be. (05)
Pat (06)
>
>Duane
> (07)
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