© Roger M Tagg 2008, 2010
Welcome to FROLIO – a new attempt to merge philosophy and the "semantic web". This website is in process of continuous development.
Although FROLIO is relationship-oriented, the roles in the relationships are taken by "things" or "objects" (which includes abstract concepts).
A relationship is a type of abstract concept, and therefore according to this list is itself an object, and so it can take a role in a relationship.
The way to read this list from top to bottom; the entry Thing at the top of the list is a class that covers everything that we can talk or write about.
The columns are colour coded to help indicate what is most closely related.
This is currently only an initial set, and needs extending and completing.
| Object/Concept | Taxonomic Relationships | Definition or Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Name | Immediate parent class | Other related class(es) | Has its own hierarchy | |
| Thing | (top of hierarchy) | Anything one can talk about or think about | ||
| Abstract Concept | Thing | Opinion, idea, theory | ||
| Physical Thing | Thing | Solid matter, liquids, gas | ||
| Generic Substance | Physical Thing | Unbounded water, liquid, gas, powder, gel | ||
| Bounded Object | Physical Thing | Object with a boundary, transportable object | ||
| Inanimate Object | Bounded Object | A bounded object that is not a living thing | ||
| Physical System | Inanimate Object | Function | Is usually complex and made from lots of sub-systems | Air conditioning, computer system, surveillance system, traffic control system, building |
| Apparatus | Inanimate Object | User, function | Is made up of parts | TV set, radio,electric light fitting, table lamp, fuse box, shower, bath, piano, violin, trumpet, filing cabinet |
| Machine | Inanimate Object | Function | Sub-component or assembly structure | Airplane, bus, truck, car, bicycle, computer unit, printer, washing machine, combine harvester, robot |
| Tool | Inanimate Object | Objects to which it is applied, human user | Toolboxes with ranges of tools | Power drill, angle grinder, key, toothbrush |
| Component | Inanimate Object | Apparatus, machine | Assembly structure | Chassis, nuts and bolts, engine |
| Container | Inanimate Object | What is contained | Containers within containers, e.g. Russian dolls | Waste bin, box, suitcase, briefcase, bottle, jar, tin, cylinder, barrel, data storage medium |
| Covering | Inanimate Object | What is covered | May contain multiple layers | Clothing, bedding, curtain, groundsheet, wrapping material |
| Physical Artifact | Inanimate Object | Assembly structure | May contain pages, chapters, figures etc | Document, Book, Drawing, Painting, Map, Stored data |
| Living Thing | Bounded Object | Order, family, species, race; may form colonies | Animals, vegetables, micro-organisms | |
| Vegetable | Living Thing | Where it grows | Seeds, suckers, cuttings | Trees, bushes, vines, grasses, flowers, ferns, plants |
| Animal | Living Thing | Habitats | Order, family, species, race; may form colonies | Mammals, reptiles, micro-organisms |
| Micro-organism | Living thing | Habitats | Cell structure | Bacteria, viruses, cells |
| Colonial Animal | Animal | Habitats | Colonies (may be unbounded) | Coral, stromatolites, Portuguese men o'war |
| Autonomous Animal | Animal | Habitats | May also work colonially, e.g. bees, ants | Mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, insects |
| Sentient Animal | Autonomous Animal | Habitats, packs | May have family groups, breeds | Apes, monkeys, dogs, cats, horses, elephants, birds, reptiles |
| Human | Sentient Animal | Nation (citizenship), religion, groups | Family relationships | Me, you, other humans living, dead or imaginary |
| Living Person | Human | Home, job, pet animals and (as for Human) | (as for Human) | You, the reader of this spreadsheet; the current head of state of your country of residence |
| Historical Person | Human | History sources | (as for Human) | Julius Caesar, Jesus Christ, Mohammed (PBUH), Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, Sitting Bull, Confucius |
| Mythological Person | Human | Mythology source, religion | Maybe family relationships (e.g. Greek) | Zeus, Hercules, Vishnu, Isis, Adam of Genesis, Siegfried, Paul Bunyan, King Arthur, Robin Hood |
| Fictional Person | Human | Book(s), films, plays, operas or other artifacts | Sometimes family relationships, e.g. in long-running soaps | James Bond, Dan Archer, Phil Archer, Soames Forsyte, Tom Sawyer, Ena Sharples, Superman, D'Artagnan |
| Class | Abstract Concept | Instances | Sub-classes, super-classes | A category with a template or set of rules for qualifying, e.g. males, graduates, mammals, monotheistic religions, whole numbers (integers), paperback books |
| Collection | Abstract Concept | Members (things, people etc) | Sub-collections, super-collections | A set of things that come together in some way, e.g. balls in a bag, students attending my lecture, stamps in a collection, gang, team, employees in a company, nation, race |
| Attribute | Abstract Concept | The classes of things that they describe | Sub-attributes, e.g. date=day/month/year, velocity=speed+direction | Colour, height, width, temperature, distance, time elapsed, name |
| Value | Abstract Concept | The instances for which they measure the attribute; scales and units | Sub-values for sub-attributes | Red, 1.7 meters, 40 Celsius, 750 kilometers, 9 hours 30 minutes, Roger |
| Relationship | Abstract Concept | The thing in the various roles of the relationship | Relationship classes (types, categories) as in FROLIO | Classification, arrangement, ownership, dependency, family connection, parent-child, sibling, my relationship with my brothers |
| Measurement | Abstract Concept | The things and their attributes being measured; scales and units, meters, the agent doing the measuring | Parts of multi-dimension measurements | Metric system (length, weight and capacity), Temperature scales, Atmospheric pressure (millibars), Beaufort scale (winds), Richter scale, Moh's scale of hardness (materials), Western calendar, clock time, international time zones, Latitude and Longitude, Measurement grids, Likert scale (choose position between two extremes) |
| Knowledge Specialization | Abstract Concept | The objects or concepts being studied, the humans doing the studying | Multi-level structure of sub-specialties | Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering, Social Science, Geography |
| Context | Abstract Concept | The things at issue; the stakeholders (individuals or groups) and their goals; maybe a knowledge specialization | Subsidiary contexts | Efficiency, finance "bottom line", human impact, social impact, ecology |
| Rule | Abstract Concept | The class(es) which the rule is defining, the actions conditional on the rule holding or being broken | Parts of rules, sets of rules, alternative rules | Statement of what counts (and maybe what does not) when putting things into categories, also laws (national, by-laws, regulations) for deciding which activities are approved and which are not |
| Goal | Abstract Concept | Plan(s) to achieve the goal; individual or org-anization whose goal it is | Reference to earlier questions, supplementaries; parts of questions | Grab 30% of the market, live an easy life, marry a rich spouse |
| Plan | Abstract Concept | Activities, processes involved in the plan; agent doing the planning; the goal(s) | Master plans; also phases of a plan | Contact all potential new customers, limit oneself to 30 hours work per week |
| Structure | Compound set of Relationships | Components | Sub-structures, super-structures | Building, machine, computer system, socio-technical system, belief system, conceptual model, theory |
| Physical Structure | Structure | Physical Components | Sub-structures, super-structures | Building, machine, system |
| Agency | Structure | The people, systems and other things that constitute the agency, and a goal | Subsidiary agencies | Organization units, departments, companies, business groups, quangos, government, hierarchies |
| Conceptual Model | Structure | The the system, process, data structure etc being modelled; the persons doing the modelling | Sub-components of the model, global models | Entity-Relationship model, Object model, Process model, this Ontology, FROLIO as a whole |
| Theory | Structure | The things which the theory addresses; the advocates of the theory; experimenters and their experiments to test the theory | Lemmas (constituents of the theory) | Newtonian mechanics, Darwinism, Relativity, Freudian psychoanalysis, Plate tectonics, Quantum theory, String theory |
| Belief System | Structure | Concepts or things involved, congregations, relationships | Sects, tendencies | Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Communism, Democracy, Socialism |
| Scenario, State of Affairs | Abstract Concept | The things about which the state of affairs is of interest, maybe a conceptual model | Component measurements of aspects of the situation | National economy, company market position, personal finances, ship or airplane situation, historical assessment, forecast situation, life cycle stage |
| Historical Situation | Scenario, State of Affairs | Allegation or Proposition about the state of those past affairs | Similar to the above, but in the past | |
| Projected Situation | Scenario, State of Affairs | Prediction or proposition, forecasting model, agency doing the forecasting | Similar to the above, but for some time in the future | |
| Event | Scenario, State of Affairs | Process in which it happens, things affected | Constituent sub-events | Change in lending rate, arrival or departure of something, noting of location, new statistics available, material or data ready, completion of an activity, life cycle change, paradigm shift |
| Process | Abstract Concept | Event that triggers it, humans controlling the process | Sub-processes, activities, atomic tasks used in the process | How something gets done, changed or moved; e.g. cooking, machining, arguing; e.g. putting a car "on the road", getting a passport, opening a bank account, enacting new legislation, getting married, changing currency |
| Protocol | Abstract Concept | System of signs, procedures, dependency relationships | Stages of the protocol | Languages, etiquette, company procedures, industry protocols, precedent, choreographed dances |
| Activity, task | Abstract Concept | Event that triggers it, agent who does the job, physical artifacts, materials | May have sub-activities, but then it might be a sub-process | Sign an application form, revise a spreadsheet or other document, inspect a product, load a vehicle |
| Utterance | Abstract Concept | The things to which the utterance is referring; the person doing the uttering | Relation to earlier or later utterances | Spoken or written/typed words, gestures, body language, vocal output |
| Assertion | Utterance | The things about which the assertion is made; the author of the assertion | Reference to earlier utterances | A "statement of fact", allegation, estimate, suggestion |
| Question | Utterance | The things about which the question is asked; the persons asking and being asked | Reference to earlier questions, supplementaries; parts of questions | Enquiries, either/or questions, requests, rhetorical questions |
| Notification | Utterance, Activity | Human or computer sender and receiver(s), message, medium, attached file or token | Bullet points | A message, notification of an event; could be a transmitted computer file |
This is an area where existing ontologies, e.g. Cyc, SUMO and DAML, are likely to remain a long way ahead of Frolio. I don't plan to spend a lot of time trying to catch them up. I will generally accept whatever I can find useful in them.
These link you, the reader, to more details about FROLIO. The core of this website is a set of pages about relationships - links to these are on the first table below. The index in the bottom row points to a set of "diatribes" or opinionated essays, about things the author feels particularly strongly about!
Some of these links may be under construction – or re-construction.
This version updated on 29th January 2010
If you have constructive suggestions or comments, please contact the author rogertag@tpg.com.au .