- From: pat hayes <phayes@ihmc.us>
- Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 18:45:49 -0500
- To: Tim Bray <tbray@textuality.com>
- Cc: Michael Mealling <michael@neonym.net>, www-tag@w3.org
>pat hayes wrote: > >>>They don't exist on the Web till they have a URI. What's >>>controversial about that? >> >>Well, maybe nothing. What does 'exist on the Web' mean? > >"Exists on the Web" means "has a URI". OK, so what you said earlier was that they don't have a URI until they have a URI. Hard to argue with that, I concede. Is that the sum total of this debate? A question. Saying "has a URI" sounds like that there has to be something that is doing the having. Is that right? Or could there be a URI which wasn't had by anything? For example http://www.ihmc.us/users/phayes/mb#blumlum (?) >>What is the difference between "exists" and "exists on the Web" ? >>Are these related in any way? I guess I find it odd to talk of >>something being brought into (any kind of) existence by something >>that happens on the Web. > >"Exists on the Web" is condition in the Web Architecture's formalism >that arises as a consequence of having a URI. This condition's >intersection with the real-world phenomenon of the same name is an >interesting problem, but (I think) not one that we need to address. Well, I do need to address it, as soon as possible. But that is fine: I don't mean to burden y'all with my problems. >>I take existence to mean actual existence, right? Being something >>in the actual world, as in "Sherlock Holmes does not exist". > >Not at all. This is a formalism. I am now at a loss how to proceed. I thought we were talking about reference and existence, but apparently we were at cross purposes. If we aren't talking about existence, could I simply ask y'all to please avoid the use of the word "exists" and its cognates, then, if you possibly could manage to do so? It is hard to imagine a word more likely to cause semantic problems when used casually or carelessly. Thanks. Pat Hayes -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- IHMC (850)434 8903 or (650)494 3973 home 40 South Alcaniz St. (850)202 4416 office Pensacola (850)202 4440 fax FL 32501 (850)291 0667 cell phayes@ihmc.us http://www.ihmc.us/users/phayes
Received on Monday, 21 July 2003 19:45:52 UTC