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SUO: Axiom and Intentionality vs Extentionality




I was looking at the SUMO browser at:

http://128.136.11.33:8080/rsigma/SKB.jsp?req=SA&skb=Merge&id=260

where the axiom:
Formula
  (=>
      (instance ?COLL Collection) 

      (exists 
          (?OBJ) 
          (member ?OBJ ?COLL) ) )



Now, as I read this, if a collection exists, it MUST have a member.
I understand that the SUMO semantics for member and Collection are: 

(documentation member "A specialized common sense notion of part for uniform
parts of &%Collections. For example, each sheep in a flock of sheep would
have the relationship of member to the flock.")

(documentation Collection "Collections have &%members like &%Classes, but,
unlike &%Classes, they have a position in space-time and &%members can be
added and subtracted without thereby changing the identity of the
&%Collection. Some examples are toolkits, football teams, and flocks of
sheep.")

Now, it seems to me that this axiom requires a collection to have an
instance.

Maybe I'm being obscure, but I would hope that this doesn't say that there
are no such things as intentional collections in the SUMO ontology.

I don't know how many left-handed leprechauns that play trombone exist, but
I would think that I should be able to express in SUMO the collection of them
without wandering around looking for a pot of gold to give the guardian a
survey (to see if he/she is one) first. 

David Whitten (713) 791-1414 ext 6116