On Jan
22, 2007, at 8:06 AM,
Denny, Michael
wrote:
Coming
late to this dialog, I am wondering if it has already been suggested that the
group take on the project of constructing a domain ontology of ontology to
specify formally what it believes constitutes and differentiates
ontologies. As a possible direction, I can imagine such an effort would
help pin down, converge and organize the diverse sentiments of the group and,
at the same time, encourage us to practice what we preach. For example,
the group might begin such an undertaking by choosing to restrict the ontology
domain to computational ontology as that breed of ontology that is expressly
machine readable and intended to be used in computing systems. Such a
domain restriction should serve not to exclude factors of philosophical
ontology as much as specifically include factors of computability like language
expressivity, language and vocabulary mapping, logic computing, data typing, algorithms
for interpretation, and instance storage and serialization features.
Further, the topical nature of the ontology in terms of its domain boundaries
and level of focus, its mission (or characteristic queries), and its relation
to other bounded domains provides a candidate third leg for this ontology of
ontology device.
Possible beginnings of an
ontology of ontology exist at http://www.charlestoncore.org/ont/2005/08/o3.html
thanks to Xiaoshu Wang, and at http://km.aifb.uni-karlsruhe.de/ws/eon2006/eon2006gangemietal.pdf
thanks to Aldo Gangemi et al, and I am sure elsewhere.
Now, the hard part, of
course, will be deciding the kind of ontology an ontology of ontology should
be. Whatever form it takes, however, I suspect it would represent a
tangible contribution to the ontology community.
Mike
==========================
Michael
Denny, Ph.D.
Principal Ontologist
Concurrent Technologies
Corporation (CTC)
100 CTC Drive
Johnstown, PA 15904
Phone: (814) 248-7518
Mobile: (814) 322-8721
Email:
dennym@xxxxxxxxxx URL: www.ctc.com
==========================