Dear Ian, (01)
Well some good practical examples, but you are a bit off target. (02)
> I think it *is* possible to have a small set of primitives (I've heard
> them
> called "ontic categories"), provided everyone using them has the same
> ground-rules (I've heard Chris Partridge call these "metaphysical
> choices").
> Without an agreement on those metaphysical choices, there cannot be an
> agreed set of primitives that are realistically usable. Here are some
> (purely fictitious) examples: (03)
[MW] I don't think these are really what PatC is talking about. But you are
right, any ontology needs to make some choices at least, and no single
ontology can choose all the options - because they are generally mutually
exclusive. However, this is not the point. (04)
What (I think) Pat is proposing is to produce one ontology into which others
could be translated/mapped. Those other ontologies need not be changed at
all, so a 3D and a 4D ontology could each be mapped to the "universal"
ontology without having to give up their own commitments. (05)
So this leaves two problems for Pat: (06)
1. Producing a "universal" ontology that is capable of expressing whatever
any other ontology does or may express. (07)
2. Persuading everyone else to use this "universal" ontology as an
intermediary to map to all the others. (08)
Neither of which are exactly trivial. (09)
Regards (010)
Matthew West
Information Junction
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