Re: SUO: Multi-Source Ontology (MSO) Draft Ballot Question
Murray,
I think that we violently agree, but you just
interchanged the subset relation when you read
my sentence:
JS> ... first-order logic is a subset of every
> natural language....
MA> ... the idea that *natural* language is somehow
> a subset of FOL requires a belief system so extensive
> and profoundly different from mine as to be
> virtually inconceivable...
Yes, of course. FOL is a tiny subset of every NL.
But every NL is so much bigger and richer than FOL
that the difference is absolutely enormous.
As I have said many times, the interpretation of
Bertrand Russell and the logical positivists was a
disaster for 20th century philosophy. Unfortunately,
when I talk about logic, some people attribute to me
the views that I find anathema -- namely Carnap's
logical positivism and Russell's logical atomism.
Please look at my critique of 20th century analytic
philosophy:
http://www.jfsowa.com/pubs/signproc.htm
Signs, Processes, and Language Games
There are three important points to keep in mind:
1. Logic is part of normal human thinking.
2. But there is much more than just logic.
3. And context is of paramount importance
to language and thought.
All three are important, and they must all
be given their due. When I mention one,
the others are always assumed as a given.
John