tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694185976355131037.post6855541625659964393..comments2023-11-25T05:07:29.660-05:00Comments on Definitions In Semantics: Malcolm Chisholmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684641560106703066noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694185976355131037.post-18072462151266930952012-07-26T13:42:47.322-04:002012-07-26T13:42:47.322-04:00Philosophically inclined people wanting to separat...Philosophically inclined people wanting to separate concepts from terms typically base or relate their thinking to the Semiotic Triangle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_of_reference or Pierce’s Triangle ideas. Sometimes also called a triangle of meaning, it distinguishes a concept that exists in a human mind (a thought) from how it is referred to and a symbol that evokes it. A symbol is typically explained as a pictorial depiction. The important aspect of this theory is that it is entirely about human cognition. There can be no name or identity for a concept as it only exists as a thought in a human mind.<br /><br />The challenge to applying this thinking to information modeling is that in the information modeling we must ultimately commit everything to (electronic) paper. Thus, every concept must have an identity and a name. As a result, a separate model for concepts and term where terms themselves have relationships, etc. can be an over-complication that does not deliver practical value. SKOS takes a simpler and, what I believe to be, a more practical approach where each concept has a globally unique identity, a preferred label that is unique for a given human language (such as English, German, etc.) within a scope of a particular “concept scheme”, any number of alternative labels and whatever other attributes and properties that are deemed necessary. A metadata about labels can be captured without giving them identity of their own. Besides the language part, such metadata is typically not just about the label itself, but about its relationship to the concept i.e., who said that this is a preferred label for this concept and when. All the relationships are between concepts, not between the labels.Irene Polikoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17320949163453965298noreply@blogger.com