ontology-summit
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [ontology-summit] Ontology Framework Draft Statement for the Ontolog

To: <ontology-summit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: <matthew.west@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:39:21 +0100
Message-id: <808637A57BC3454FA660801A3995FA8F04EC03A8@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Dear Colleagues,    (01)

I'd like to add my weight to this comment from Chris Welty:    (02)

"The biggest problem here is precisely this position of arrogance 
stemming from a belief that computer scientists have invented 
something new.  I thought so, too, when I started doing this two 
decades ago as a computer scientist. But I was wrong; ontology is 
very, very, old.  The only thing we (computer scientists) have added 
are ways to implement, test, and run them."    (03)

I support very strongly the idea that we need to have a definition 
of ontology that embraces this.    (04)


Regards    (05)

Matthew West
Reference Data Architecture and Standards Manager
Shell International Petroleum Company Limited
Registered in England and Wales
Registered number: 621148
Registered office: Shell Centre, London SE1 7NA, United Kingdom    (06)

Tel: +44 20 7934 4490 Mobile: +44 7796 336538
Email: matthew.west@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.shell.com
http://www.matthew-west.org.uk/    (07)


> -----Original Message-----
> From: ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Chris
> Welty
> Sent: 20 April 2007 14:37
> To: Ontology Summit 2007 Forum
> Subject: Re: [ontology-summit] Ontology Framework Draft Statement for
> the Ontology Summit
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tom Gruber wrote:
> > John Sowa wrote:
> >>   1. I don't believe that the definitions in philosophy and
> >>      computer science differ in any significant way.
> >>   3. If possible, we should adopt a common definition that
> >>      is acceptable to both fields
> > 
> > The draft document is written as a logical walk down a set 
> of distinctions,
> > so that we could discuss the source of disagreements and 
> clearly identify
> > the point of departure.  John's objections to the first and 
> most fundamental
> > distinction (philosophy vs. computer science word senses) 
> makes evident the
> > reason why certain topics are never "put to rest" by 
> philosophers and other
> > dialectic sportsmen.  To say there is no difference between 
> what a professor
> > of Aristotelian ontology means by ontology and what a bioinformatics
> > computer scientist managing a gene database means is absurd.  
> 
> Wow.  I find the absurdity the other way around - and I have studied 
> both.  No matter what you study you will have armchair theoreticians 
> and hands-on practitioners.  Sounds to me like that is the 
> distinction 
> you are alluding to here.  All ontology, whether practiced by 
> "philosophers" or "computer scientists" is grounded in the 
> same things.
> 
> The biggest problem here is precisely this position of arrogance 
> stemming from a belief that computer scientists have invented 
> something new.  I thought so, too, when I started doing this two 
> decades ago as a computer scientist. But I was wrong; ontology is 
> very, very, old.  The only thing we (computer scientists) have added 
> are ways to implement, test, and run them.
> 
> -Chris
> 
> 
> -- 
> Dr. Christopher A. Welty                    IBM Watson Research Center
> +1.914.784.7055                             19 Skyline Dr.
> cawelty@xxxxxxxxx                           Hawthorne, NY 10532
> http://www.research.ibm.com/people/w/welty
>  
> _________________________________________________________________
> Msg Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontology-summit/ 
> Subscribe/Config: 
http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontology-summit/  
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontology-summit-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OntologySummit2007/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OntologySummit2007
Community Portal: http://ontolog.cim3.net/    (08)



_________________________________________________________________
Msg Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontology-summit/ 
Subscribe/Config: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontology-summit/  
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontology-summit-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OntologySummit2007/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OntologySummit2007
Community Portal: http://ontolog.cim3.net/    (09)
<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>