[SCL] new draft

[Murray Altheim]

Bill Andersen wrote:
> On Dec 19, 2003, at 1024, John F. Sowa wrote:
>>Pat,
>>
>>The latest (Dec 19) draft looks much better, but
>>I haven't yet had a chance to study it in detail.
> 
> I agree.  It's much more readable than the previous version.  Nice job,
> Pat!

Agreed.

>>However, the use of the word "ontology" as a synonym
>>for any set of sentences still sets my teeth on edge.
>>I agree with you that many people use it as a meaningless
>>buzz word -- but just for that reason it is likely to
>>become obsolete as soon as the latest bubble (i.e. the
>>so-called semantic web) pops.
>>
>>I really wish you would do a global change of "ontology"
>>to "module".
> 
> I agree with John here.  How about "theory" - is that not the accepted
> term for a set of sentences intended to constrain the interpretation of
> a set of terms?  This might be too high-falootin a term for the general
> public, so I could live with "module".

I'm probably as close to the general public as there is on this
list, and I'd prefer "theory" myself, as "ontology" and "module"
both confer very different things to me. And I'd prefer to keep
"module" for use as "ontology modules" if possible. The idea of
a modular ontology is (at least to me) an important concept. A
theory as a set of sentences makes good sense, in that a sentence
or set of sentences expresses what (I would think) common people
think of as a statement of theory.

Murray

......................................................................
Murray Altheim                    http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/murray/
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6AA, UK               .

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