John F. Sowa wrote: (01)
> That is why I have emphasized the need for *a* framework that can
> accommodate *an* open-ended *hierarchy* of ontologies. (02)
John, I added the emphases in the above quote, possibly changing what you
meant. I have no intention of offending, and I'm not trying to pick a fight,
either. I just keep suspecting that frameworks necessarily make ontological
assumptions, and that even the assumption of hierarchy is an example of such an
assumption. (03)
I would argue that what's needed, as the bottom turtle in the stack, is a
rhetoric capable of accommodating diverse frameworks without isolating them
from one another. Naturally, many frameworks can each accommodate one
open-ended hierarchy, but even the assumption of hierarchy is, for me, itself
suspect. "There are more things in heaven and earth..." and there is an odor
of a priestly caste and an intent to control discourse about an assumption of
hierarchy. I'd be happier to start somewhere so fundamental that nothing human
can possibly be alien, nor be isolated from anything else. Then, no matter
what, there are no isolated ontological contexts, even though there may be no
common ontological assumptions, nor any guarantee that a mathematical excuse
can be found for every insight. There is a guarantee that a cross-ontological
insight can be precisely expressed, however, and I'm guessing that's very
valuable. (04)
There is a cost, of course, and the cost is disclosure of commitments, and of
the extremities of commitment, and the cost of distinguishing semantics from
one another. I would expect readers of this list to be embarrassed to cavil at
paying that cost. (05)
Steve (06)
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