SUO: *Date 22 Mar 2002 -- ComputerProgram In SUMO
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SUMO Group,
I have been looking at the sections of the SUMO document
that have to do with computer programs. I extracted this
group of axioms that bear on the concept "ComputerProgram".
| 1. (subclass ComputerProgram Procedure)
|
| (documentation ComputerProgram
| "A set of instructions in a computer programming
| language that can be executed by a computer.")
|
| 2. (subclass Procedure Proposition)
|
| (documentation Procedure
| "A sequence-dependent specification. Some examples are
| &%ComputerPrograms, finite-state machines, cooking recipes,
| musical scores, conference schedules, driving directions,
| and the scripts of plays and movies.")
|
| 3. (subclass Proposition Abstract)
|
| (documentation Proposition
| "&%Propositions are &%Abstract entities that express a complete thought
| or a set of such thoughts. As an example, the formula '(instance Yojo Cat)'
| expresses the &%Proposition that the entity named Yojo is an element of the
| &%Class of Cats. Note that propositions are not restricted to the content
| expressed by individual sentences of a &%Language. They may encompass the
| content expressed by theories, books, and even whole libraries. It is
| important to distinguish &%Propositions from the &%ContentBearingObjects
| that express them. A &%Proposition is a piece of information, e.g., that
| the cat is on the mat, but a &%ContentBearingObject is an &%Object that
| represents this information. A &%Proposition is an abstraction that may
| have multiple representations: strings, sounds, icons, etc. For example,
| the &%Proposition that the cat is on the mat is represented here as a string
| of graphical characters displayed on a monitor and/or printed on paper, but
| it can be represented by a sequence of sounds or by some non-latin alphabet
| or by some cryptographic form")
|
| 4. (subclass Abstract Entity)
| (disjoint Abstract Physical)
|
| (documentation Abstract
| "Properties or qualities as distinguished from any particular embodiment
| of the properties/qualities in a physical medium. Instances of Abstract
| can be said to exist in the same sense as mathematical objects such as
| sets and relations, but they cannot exist at a particular place and time
| without some physical encoding or embodiment.")
|
| ;; Something is Abstract just in case it has neither
| a spatial nor temporal location.
|
| 5. (documentation Entity
| "The universal class of individuals.
| This is the root node of the ontology.")
|
| ;; Everything is an entity (due to Robert E. Kent).
|
| ;; There are entities. (In standard FOPC, this axiom is redundant, since
| it is implied by the one above. However, it is included here in case
| a "free logic" or similar, nonstandard interpretation of the ontology
| is adopted).
|
| ;; Every class is a subclass of Entity, and vice versa.
|
| 6. (subclass Physical Entity)
|
| (documentation Physical
| "An entity that has a location in space-time.
| Note that locations are themselves understood
| to have a location in space-time")
|
| ;; Something is Physical just in case it
| exists at some location at some time.
In this initial pass I would like to try and focus on the
intended meanings of the concepts in this particular complex,
and not get distracted with the details of the SUMO-KIF axioms
on classes and sets. But I do need to ask one just one question
on this topic before I can get started:
Is it safe to interpret "subclass" as "subset"?
Modulo a hopeful yes on that, I then need to ask whether
the following inferences are in accord with the intended
meanings for all of the involved terms:
| If q is a ComputerProgram then:
|
| 1. q is a Procedure.
|
| 2. q is a Proposition.
|
| 3. q is a Abstract.
|
| 4. q is a Entity & q is not a Physical.
Thank you for your attention.
Jon Awbrey
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