RE: QNames, semantics, serialization

On Thu, 30 Aug 2001, pat hayes wrote:

> [...] Really pinning down actual *reference* to *real things* is a
> very, very  tricky business, one that is way beyond the ability of
> current semantic theories to analyse, and therefore probably best
> left aside for now in these discussions.

Amen! This is however something that Semantic Web (via our use of both
URIs and of RDF descriptions for identification) will need to
engage with at some point. Quite how much of the meaning of the URI spec
can be formalised is a rather interesting question. While I'm worried by
the notion that we'll have to pick a favoured theory of reference, I do
think that the 'reference' aspect to 'meaning' is something we'll need to
deal with if SW is to fulfill expectations w.r.t. ecommerce etc.

Dan

Received on Thursday, 30 August 2001 19:28:43 UTC