- From: Tim Berners-Lee <timbl@w3.org>
- Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 17:53:46 -0500
- To: "Jon Awbrey" <jawbrey@oakland.edu>
- Cc: <fmanola@mitre.org>, "RDF Logic" <www-rdf-logic@w3.org>
While I do indeed claim the right to declare the use of a word to local to myself or a message, in fact in this case I think my use is consistent with the use in the RDF community, and the RDF Model and Syntax Specification which, as a W3C Recommendation, has a certain following. So the Community of Interpretation in this case is fairly large. My tendency is to give respect to different incompatible communities of interpretation, of varying sizes, as I feel that the interaction of many different communities of many sizes is essential to society. These messages, though are specifically within the www-rdf-logic list which is a (relatively) well defined community. It has a web address http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-logic/ which explicitly links it to http://www.w3.org/Metadata/ and so to http://www.w3.org/RDF/ http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-rdf-syntax/ which defines RDF and says, "In order to express this fact to RDF, we have to model the original statement as a resource with four properties. This process is formally called ~reification~ in the Knowledge Representation community. A model of a statement is called a ~reified statement~." Tim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon Awbrey" <jawbrey@oakland.edu> To: "Tim Berners-Lee" <timbl@w3.org> Cc: <fmanola@mitre.org>; "RDF Logic" <www-rdf-logic@w3.org> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 12:48 AM Subject: Re: Conceptual Graphs, N3, RDF, Semantic Web > ¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤ > > Tim Berners-Lee wrote: > > > > Thank you, Frank! > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Frank Manola" <fmanola@mitre.org> > > Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 5:45 PM > > Subj: Re: Conceptual Graphs, N3, RDF, Semantic Web > > > > > I believe the definition of "reification" intended in the > > > context of RDF is along the lines of McCarthy's, found at > > > > > > http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/generality/node6.html > > > to wit: > > > [..] > > > This process of making objects out of sentences and other entities > > > is called reification. > > > > That ws indeed my sense, > > perhaps not the sense > > of some philosophers > > or psychologists, > > but this is the > > RDF logic list, > > and this is the > > sense in which > > RDF uses it. > > Tim, > > What you have just written is extremely instructive -- > once I have found a fitting angle to reflect on it! -- > you indicated yourself, by means of the index "my", > as being the possessor of the apt and proper sense > of the sign-spelt-string "reification" in question. > You asserted your right as a free interpretive agent > to use this hidebound and intellectually inert object > to say what you mean to say and to ploy it in the way > that you see fit. By way of support for your daring > act of independence from the conventions and party > lines of others to create your own conventions and > to throw your own parties, you wisely adverted to > your local "community of interpretation" (COI), > which the actuality of your own person indexes, > and which, in turn, establishes the context of > your acts of meaning just what you mean within. > Was there a hint of insinuation or intimation that > this one: this community, this context, this sense, > is a cut above, or at least a cut apart, from the > many COI mistresses pursued by the other suitors? > > In doing all this, you do what is perfectly natural > and quite understandable, and I support with my life > and my sacred honor your right to do so -- and yet, > to be fair, I must do the same for every other one > who has the sense to use signs, or might some day, > some way. And so how will I keep track of it all? > AI! There's the rub! > > > (In N3, if > > > > :sky :color :blue . > > > > is the "sentence", then > > > > { :sky :color :blue } > > > > is the "object". > > > > In the RDF model, this is represented by a set of sentences which describe it.) > > I am still at the beginning of trying to learn your language ... > > > I obviously have gone to the wrong > > cocktail parties, not having seen > > the word being used to impress > > the impressoinable ;-) > > Oh, I was just talking about a host > of other people that I once knew -- > If the sloe gin don't fizz, > don't drink it ... > > Cheers, hic et nunc, > > Jon Awbrey > > ¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤ >
Received on Tuesday, 23 January 2001 17:48:57 UTC