Pat C and Ingvar, (01)
I also agree with what Pat said: (02)
PC> I would suggest that we promiscuously include all
> quantifiable "units" that carry meaning in any application,
> and not take as "dimensionless" any measures that are in fact
> distinguishable in their intended meaning. A weight ratio
> does *not* have the same dimension as an angle, though one
> can oversimplify either to some dimensionless number. (03)
I'd like to clarify some points that I made in earlier notes: (04)
1. I make a sharp distinction between the words used by the
practitioners in any field and the metalevel terms used
to talk about those words. (05)
2. I believe that words that have a long established usage
in any subject (like 'unit' and 'dimension' for UoM) serve
an important purpose, and they should be recognized and
represented in an ontology. (06)
3. But I also believe that we need to choose a suitable set
of metalevel terms for talking about any ontology in a
formal standard. (07)
4. Over the centuries, philosophers of every persuasion have
contributed to a voluminous set of terms, many of which
have been used in conflicting ways over the centuries.
Although I have a high regard for that literature, I suggest
that we avoid using that terminology, if possible. (08)
5. My suggestion for the metalevel terminology is to use the
same words that we use to describe the logical notation
for defining the ontology. For example, we can use the
term 'predicate' or 'relation' instead of 'universal' and
'instance' instead of 'particular'. (09)
6. I also believe it is important to relate the standard
to the philosophical literature, but I would do that in
nonnormative citations and comments, not in the normative
definitions of the standard. (010)
John Sowa (011)
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