Dear John (01)
I do not disagree with Webster, yet I think it's time to update/expand
those entries
(lexicographers on this list?) (02)
My mother today asked me what am I working on and I explained that I
need to pout together these slides for an ontology summit and she
asked me 'what is ontology' and i answered 'look in the dictionary'
(garzanti), She did some look up then said that she does not
understand why all of sudden I concern myself with 'the study of
being' although that would explain my propensity for contemplative
idleness (03)
So I had to explain about the relevance of defining what exists for
the purpose of designing an information system and she said 'ah'. (04)
I mean: the current entry in a generic dictionary may not capture
(yet) exhaustively all the aspects of our reality as we are defining
on this forum, I also think we are creating new knowledge here, and
the process is painful, hopefully constructive one (05)
A question springs to mind : is ontology for our purpose here, only a
'science' and a 'theory'? Anything else we should consider there? (06)
( Leo seems to insist that our mission today is not necessarily to
produce a definitive definition, so if we decide to suspend this for
now and focus on other aspects of this discussion is okay for me now,
I am sure this will crop up
later) (07)
Paola Di Maio (08)
On 4/21/07, John F. Sowa <sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: (09)
>
> My recommendation is to take definition 1a and definition 2
> from the Third Unabridged:
>
> 1. a science or study of being; specifically, a branch of
> metaphysics relating to the nature and relations of being.
>
> 2. a theory concerning the kinds of entities and specifically
> the kinds of abstract entities to be admitted to a language
> system.
>
> Definition 2 covers exactly what we are doing with computer
> ontologies.
>
> ISO normally uses the OED, but I don't have a copy of the OED
> handy. If the group prefers the OED, I would accept that as well.
>
> Let's just take the two definitions above (or the corresponding
> definitions from the OED) and stop all this wrangling. If we try
> to change a single word, we will go on forever.
>
> John
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> 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/
> (010)
--
--------------------------------------------
Paola Di Maio
School of IT, MFU.ac.th
-------------------------------------------- (011)
"For as long as space and time endures
may I too abide to dispel misery and ignorance" (012)
_________________________________________________________________
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/ (013)
|