On 10/3/2012 8:06 AM, Andries van Renssen wrote:
> for me 'person' is not a role. But customer, student, patient, performer,
> enabler, etc. are roles, because they are extrinsic aspects which
> existence depend on a relation with some other role player. (01)
The word 'person' is derived from the Roman 'persona', which was applied
to the masks worn by actors in Greco-Roman tragedies and comedies. (02)
The etymology shows its origin: 'persona' comes from 'per sonare'
(to sound through) -- the lips were usually exaggerated in a kind
of megaphone that helped the actors project their voices in the
outdoor amphitheaters. (03)
The two-word phrase 'human being' is the most neutral English term
for an individual of the species Homo sapiens. Other English words,
'man', 'woman', 'boy', 'girl', 'child', and 'adult' designate
a human being of a particular sex and/or age. (04)
Since the US legal system has adopted the word 'person' for a role
that can be played by an organization, the role aspect has been
emphasized, rather than diminished by time. (05)
To be absolutely neutral, an ontology could use the term HumanBeing
for an instance of Homo sap. Then the category Person could be
used for individuals or organizations that have a certain legal
status in society. (06)
The distinction is important. The character string used in the KRep
is less significant. One solution is to use the URI or IRI as the
official designator, and to have a list of possible realizations
in different languages in the document that describes the term. (07)
John Sowa (08)
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