On 1/26/2011 8:49 AM, Mike Bennett wrote:
> I sometimes wonder if something more formal can be done with the
> idea of Peircean thirdness (context) such that we can formalise
> the relations of different kinds of what we call context, to
> independent and relative terms. Especially as a lot of these
> relate to temporal concepts, commitments, affordances and so on. (01)
First, I'd like to clarify that phrase "Peircean thirdness (context)". (02)
Thirdness is a very general principle that can be used to look
for loose ends in an ontology. In its simplest form, it says
that whenever you find two things that are related, search for
some reason why they are related. That reason is the implicit
Third that relates the other two. (03)
That third is could be a law of physics, mathematics, or some
other branch of science. But very often, it is the result
of some human (or other animal) habit, purpose, intention,
perspective, goal, desire, fear, etc. (04)
In the case of context, you have a text whose interpretation
depends on something called a "context". But there is no simple
criterion for context other than "whatever is relevant to the
meaning of the text." The word 'relevant' brings in the Third. (05)
Some people get very frustrated by such notions, because they
want something that they can immediately sit down and program.
I sympathize with them. I wish there were a simple rule of
thumb that would automagically tell people (or a computer)
how to determine the relevant context. (06)
But Peirce's rule is like the legal principle "Cui bono?"
(For whose benefit?). It doesn't say what is missing, but
it tells you where to start looking for clues. (07)
John (08)
_________________________________________________________________
Message Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontolog-forum/
Config Subscr: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontolog-forum/
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontolog-forum-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shared Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/
To join: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WikiHomePage#nid1J
To Post: mailto:ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (09)
|