ONT Re: Inquiry Driven Systems
¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤
| Document History
|
| Subject: Inquiry Driven Systems: An Inquiry Into Inquiry
| Contact: Jon Awbrey <jawbrey@oakland.edu>
| Version: Draft 8.70
| Created: 23 Jun 1996
| Revised: 06 Jan 2002
| Advisor: M.A. Zohdy
| Setting: Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA
| Excerpt: Section 1.3.4 (Discussion of Formalization: Concrete Examples)
| Excerpt: Subsection 1.3.4.14 (Application of OF: Generic Level)
|
| http://members.door.net/arisbe/menu/library/aboutcsp/awbrey/inquiry.htm
1.3.4.14 Application of OF: Generic Level
Given an ontological framework that can provide multiple perspectives
and moving platforms for dealing with object structure, in other words,
that can organize diverse hierarchies and developing orders of objects,
attention can now return to the discussion of sign relations as models
of intellectual processes.
A principal aim of using sign relations as formal models is to be capable
of analyzing complex activities that arise in human domains and in nature
generally. Proceeding by the opportunistic mode that is commonly known as
"analysis by synthesis" (ABS), one generates plausible constructions from a
stock of familiar, favored, and well-understood sign relations, the supply of
which hopefully grows with time, constantly matching their formal properties
against the structures encountered in the "wilds" of natural phenomena and
human conduct. When salient traits of both the freely generated products
and the widely gathered phenomena coincide in enough points, then the
details of the constructs that one has built for oneself can help to
articulate plausible hypotheses as to how the observable appearances
might be explained.
A principal difficulty of using sign relations for this purpose arises
from the very power of productivity they bring to bear in the process,
the capacity of 3-adic relations to generate a welter of what are bound
to be mostly arbitrary structures, with only a scattered few hoping to
show any promise, but the massive profusion of which exceeds from the
outset any reason's ability to sort them out and test them in practice.
And yet, as the phenomena of interest become more complex, the chances
grow steadily slimmer that adequate explanations will be found in any
of the thinner haystacks. In this respect, sign relations inherit the
basic proclivities of set theory, that can be so successful and succinct
in presenting and clarifying the properties of already found materials
and hard won formal insights, and yet so overwhelming to use as a tool
of random exploration and discovery.
The sign relations of A and B, though natural in themselves as far as they go,
were nevertheless introduced in an artificial fashion and established by means
of arbitrary stipulations. Sign relations that arise in more natural settings
usually have a rationale, a reason for being as they are, and therefore become
amenable to classification on the basis of the distinctive characters that make
them what they are. As a consequence, naturally occurring sign relations can be
expected to fall into species or natural kinds, and to have special properties
that make them keep on occurring in nature. Moreover, cultivated varieties of
sign relations, the kinds that have been converted to social purposes and found
to be viable in actual practice, will have identifiable and especially effective
properties by virtue of which their signs are rendered their significant utility.
In the pragmatic theory of sign relations, three natural kinds of signs are
recognized, under the names of "icons", "indices", and "symbols". Examples
of indexical or accessional signs figured significantly in the discussion of
A and B, as illustrated by the pronouns "i" and "u" in S. Examples of iconic
or analogical signs were also present, though keeping to the background, in
the very form of the sign relation Tables that were used to schematize the
whole activity of each interpreter. Examples of symbolic or conventional
signs, of course, abide even more deeply in the background, pervading the
whole context of discourse and making up the very fabric of this inquiry.
Jon Awbrey
¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤