Re: Literals (Re: model theory for RDF/S)

At 02:52 PM 10/5/01 -0500, Pat Hayes wrote:
>[...] Logic is often presented using things like P and Q , but that 
>doesn't mean its not about anything; it means it's about EVERYTHING.  Do 
>you think Aristotle was only thinking about letters?
>Suggestion: toss the word 'ontology' at Google and read some of the stuff 
>you find. Or take a look at the DAML-S ontologies. This is aggressively 
>real-world stuff.

This reminds me of a quote in Sowa's book Knowledge Representation, 
introducing the chapter on Ontology:

"... We must philosophize, said the great naturalist Aristotle -- if only 
to avoid philosophizing. ..."  [and more] (Quoted from Charles Sanders Peirce.)

I took this, in part, to be a caution against trying to regard logic, etc., 
as a mere formal abstraction -- that is must in some way be grounded in or 
related to the things that affect us as people.

#g



------------
Graham Klyne
GK@NineByNine.org