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Re: [ontolog-forum] History of the Atomic Hypothesis

To: "[ontolog-forum] " <ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: "Sharma, Ravi" <Ravi.Sharma@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:10:19 -0600
Message-id: <D09FFCFB3952074082D4280BC24EAFA801E3389E@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Len    (01)

Schopenhauer and Russell influenced Ludwig's thinking and I did not find
anything remarkable contributed by Ludwig there in a cursory look at the
link set by you.
What I was referring to was that piece of knowledge that influenced
Schopenhauer and the origins of those ides that he studied in relation
to Max Mueller's work.    (02)

Knowing a bit about his seminal work I can never even indirectly or in a
dream imply that John was not doing great work of our times in CL. I
actually praised him for discovering something about an image rendered
by atoms through electron microscopy.      (03)

But I fail to understand that practical applications of ontology related
concepts have to wait till any formalism is completed, as in physics,
theories and the truth of one time are often refined or superseded by
others (as I mentioned about Quarks and Gluons)!    (04)

We hope multiple formal and semiformal (example - RDBMS in IT) tools and
applications relating to ontologies will allow us to address many
current pure IT solutions related open issues and put arms around many
of them!    (05)

Thanks.    (06)

Ravi    (07)

(Dr. Ravi Sharma) Senior Enterprise Architect    (08)

Vangent, Inc. Technology Excellence Center (TEC)    (09)

8618 Westwood Center Drive, Suite 310, Vienna VA 22182
(o) 703-827-0638, (c) 313-204-1740 www.vangent.com    (010)

Professional viewpoints do not necessarily imply organizational
endorsement.    (011)

-----Original Message-----
From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Len Yabloko
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 2:52 PM
To: [ontolog-forum]
Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] History of the Atomic Hypothesis    (012)

Ravi,     (013)

You wrote:    (014)

RS> "Hence while we wait for the ultimate unified theory (which we
hope will not render this life without quest!), we have to do with
approximate enough understanding for the purpose for which we intend to
use the theory or ontology."    (015)

I have a different take on John's illustrations and references.
I don't think anyone seriously involved in application of ontology is
waiting for the "ultimate unified theory". The need for unification is
not driven by desire to have an "ultimate theory". That possibility is
simply an assumption behind any attempt for unification, the same way it
is in modern physics where  there are now not one but many candidates
for "unified theory". If they are waiting for anything, then it is to
find out which one is true. But that does not stop anyone from building
machines and instruments based on existing theories.    (016)

Ironically there are even more candidates for unified theory of
ontology, but dues to lack of any evidence nobody takes any one of those
seriously enough to use as a foundation for any unified paradigm. It is
a lack of instruments and rigorous discipline required to collect the
evidence that really is a problem.
Another problem is prevailing in such vaccume doctrine of "common sense"
as only available approach while waiting for perfect theory, which leads
to pseudo-engineering fields like "knowledge engineering" without any
theory at all - just evidence and plenty of encouragement coming from
medieval cathedrals and other things built without theory.    (017)

The "use" of what we have (with the ultimate purpose in mind) is not a
solution or even a method. We must settle on a particular framework and
build an engineering discipline, even if that framework itself is
questionable at this time, for the lack of better one. But that is not
the same as running in all directions using what you have. If the "use"
seems to be the most important thing for you, then perhaps
Wittgenstein's theory of "knowledge as use" should be accepted and used
to unify the field.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein    (018)

 I believe John is trying for a very long time and with some notable
success to use Pierce's theory as such unifying framework. I support him
on this 100%.     (019)

--Len    (020)

Len Yabloko, Owner/CEO
Next Generation Software
www.ontospace.net    (021)





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