A colleague reminded me of this resource which discusses the links between
ontology and logic.
I notes several senses for each term. Some people may find it interesting. (01)
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/logic-ontology/ (02)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Partridge [mailto:mail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: 25 January 2009 17:29
> To: '[ontolog-forum] '
> Subject: RE: [ontolog-forum] Next steps in using ontologies as
> standards
>
> John,
>
> I suspect we are not that far apart. However ...
>
> > CP> It does seem to me that if there is relationship, then it is
> > > something to do with Husserl and Russell's notion that logic
> > > can be a tool to describe ontologies.
> >
> > Excuse me. That was Aristotle's position: logic is the
> > _organon_ (tool) for doing philosophy, including ontology,
> > the first philosophy.
>
> I think my (Russell/Husserl) point is different from your (Aristotle)
> point.
>
> JS> logic is the _organon_ (tool) for doing philosophy
> What exactly is 'doing' here? Is it that when you do philosophy, you
> are doing logic? If so, then Aristotle did not practice what he
> preached as there is quite a lot of his work that is not plain
> syllogisms. Similarly many, even most, modern philosophers are not
> 'doing' philosophy in this sense.
>
> It may be helpful here if you define what sense of logic you are using
> here.
> I am using the pragmatic definition that it is what logicians do (or
> claim to do).
>
> CP>logic can be a tool to describe ontologies.
> However, in my view (and a lot of the logicians I talk to), one needs
> to understand something to a reasonable extent before one formalises it
> in logic. If you do not understand something, then it is difficult to
> see how you can successfully formalise it. So there is quite a lot of
> prior 'doing' of ontology before one starts logically formalising. That
> is not to say that one's understanding cannot deepen when one makes the
> formalisation.
>
> Regards,
> Chris
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ontolog-forum-
> > bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John F. Sowa
> > Sent: 25 January 2009 16:48
> > To: [ontolog-forum]
> > Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] Next steps in using ontologies as
> > standards
> >
> > Chris,
> >
> > CP> However, it seems to me that in the late 20th century this
> > > tradition was abandoned. That logicians (like mathematicians)
> > > wanted to develop systems with little or no ontological
> commitment.
> >
> > First of all, logic is a prerequisite for ontology, as Aristotle
> > said. So any attempt to avoid ontological commitment in the logic
> > is a very traditional Aristotelian approach.
> >
> > The application of logic to mathematics is also very traditional.
> > Euclid was inspired by Aristotle to systematize the mathematics
> > of his day, and much of his terminology was adopted from Aristotle.
> > Since the syllogisms didn't support full FOL, Euclid couldn't use
> > them to formalize the reasoning. But there is a direct line of
> > influence from Aristotle to Euclid to Hilbert, Tarski, and Gödel.
> > (Tarski, by the way, quoted Aristotle in the famous paper that
> > introduced his model theory.)
> >
> > But as I have written in many email notes and publications,
> > the most serious blunder was by Frege, Russell, and Carnap:
> > the deprecation of natural language as a degenerate version
> > of logic. That is the source of the "grave errors" (schwere
> > Irrtümer) that Wittgenstein addressed in his later philosophy.
> >
> > The most brilliant work in ontology during the 20th century
> > was written by Peirce, Whitehead, and the later Wittgenstein.
> > As logicians, they were just as brilliant as Frege, Russell,
> > and Carnap, but they rejected their blunders.
> >
> > CP> So, if I look through the philosophy -- ontology textbooks on
> > > my bookcase, for example, Lowe's 'The Possibility of Metaphysics:
> > > Substance, Identity and Time', I find only a brief mention of
> > > logic, typically where it is distinguished from metaphysics.
> >
> > The 20th century is an aberration caused by the split between the
> > analytic philosophers and the so-called continental philosophers.
> > (And I blame that split on the schwere Irrtümer of Frege, Russell,
> > and Carnap.) But note the work on ontology in Husserl's
> > _Logical Investigations_, Carnap's _Logische Aufbau_, and
> > Nelson Goodman's _Structure of Appearance._
> >
> > CP> So it seems to me that as a historical comment my original
> > > point stands -- where 'tradition' is understood as current
> > > mainstream, rather than historical mainstream.
> >
> > There is a direct continuity between what people are currently
> > doing and the historical developments from Aristotle to Peirce,
> > Husserl, Whitehead, Wittgenstein, and modern AI. See, for example,
> > the following paper:
> >
> > http://www.jfsowa.com/pubs/csp21st.pdf
> > Peirce's Contributions to the 21st Century
> >
> > If you don't believe me, please look at the very extensive
> > analysis by the Danish philosopher Frederick Stjernfelt
> > in his very large book, _Diagrammatology_. In that book,
> > Stjernfelt notes the very strong affinities between Peirce
> > and Husserl. Both of them were much closer to one another
> > than either was to Frege or Russell.
> >
> > CP> It does seem to me that if there is relationship, then it is
> > > something to do with Husserl and Russell's notion that logic
> > > can be a tool to describe ontologies.
> >
> > Excuse me. That was Aristotle's position: logic is the
> > _organon_ (tool) for doing philosophy, including ontology,
> > the first philosophy.
> >
> > John
> >
> >
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