FROLIO – Formalizable Relationship-Oriented Language-Insensitive Ontology

© Roger M Tagg 2008, revised January 2010, links fixed December 2010

Welcome to FROLIO – a new attempt to merge philosophy and the "semantic web". This website is continually under construction - please send suggestions for improvements to the author.

Relationship Major Category  - "Logic"

General Meaning

We are concerned here with one state of affairs or process, usually estimated or proposed rather than actually observable, that follows logically from a set of human or robotic observations, recordings, measurements, opinions etc. The logic does not have to involve formal reason – it may happen informally through accustomed patterns of thought. We do not need to assume the concept of an absolute “real world”. We can take the view that any conclusions are “provisional” – the best we can do until better evidence comes along.

Category Icon

The icon represents a person thinking about some issue, trying to resolve the question marks.

Relationship Role Diagram (for key to the letter codes click here)

A theory, idea or process (role A) is arrived at from observations of a scenario, process or natural phenomena (role B) by a thinker (role C). The author (role Z) is taken to be the person who reported the fact of the reasoning, rather than the thinker. The tool (role I) might be some logical, mathematical, experiential - or even emotional - basis for arriving at the thought. The procedure (role M) might consist of stages of thinking. The theory in the Y role would be the overarching theory that the thinker has adopted – maybe it’s plate tectonics, Darwinist evolution, literal truth of sacred books – or even “folk wisdom”. The time role T may or may not be an issue – some generalizations might be assumed true for all time (e.g. Newton’s laws), but as we know, these are simplifications of what we can deduce from more accurate information.

A	A	C	B	B
I				B
I			M
P				Z
	T	X	Y

Relationship Types in this Category

There are a lot of variations - certainly in the English language - for what may in fact be a smaller number of distinct relationship concepts.

Deduction, code “Ld”:

• is deduced from – some observations or pre-condition, following some mathematical or logical process
• is derived from
• is consequence of - the scenario in the A role is linked to the scenario (and/or theory) in the B role on the basis of the theory in the Y role and the tools I and procedures M. The A scenario may have already appeared; if it is imagined, then this relationship may overlap with prediction (see below)
• conditionally follows from - condition is in role C

Explanation, code “Le”:

• is explanation of – could also overlap with the above group, but has the implication that humans who hear or read the resulting thought need to be satisfied that it makes sense. Today most people would not be satisfied with the “Zeus with thunderbolts” interpretation, although there are some who are satisfied by a “God created everything in 6 literal days” interpretation. This type has variations such as:
  • is hypothesis for
  • is a theory to explain
  • is deduced cause of
• is interpretation of – this means some re-arrangement of the structure of things to make it simpler for other people to understand. It doesn’t imply some sort of translation into different terms of communication. This type has variations such as:
  • is a possible understanding of
  • is a mythology to cover - e.g. Zeus's thunderbolts, 6-day Creation, Aboriginal dreamtime, Maui's fish hook
• is analogy for - using some more easily grasped process or behaviour to help understand a more complex one
• is a question regarding
• is due to / is caused by – an assertion purporting (possibly loosely) to explain observations

Forethought, code “Lf”:

• is prediction for - the author Z predicts the A scenario in some time T or place P, on the basis of observations B, theory Y, context X, tools I and procedures M.
• is a solution for - the context X involves a choice or a problem. (note: a needs relationship is presumably in the Volition category), and the scenario A describes a possible choice or solution, based on past observations and theories B and also tools I and procedures M.

Insight, Induction code “Li”:

• is insight regarding - this takes things further than the above 3 forms; it implies that some new model is constructed, based on analysis of the observations, using whatever tools and/or procedures.
is extrapolation of – this applies a hypothesis from observations and suggests a general rule that might apply beyond the range of what has been observed
• is indication of - a possible or alternative deduction
• reminds me of - an analogy

Justification, code “Lj”:

• is justified by - this concentrates on constructing a rationale for what is observed; it must lean heavily on some theory of what is “just”
• is judged against - some criteria or conditions - may overlap with Differentiation

Summarisation, code “Ls”:

• is summarisation of – this describes logic where the emphasis is that a complex set of observations needs to be reduced in size and complexity to a short message suitable to be acted on. A précis, or management summary would be one example. Statistical figures like averages and variances are another. An extreme example is a fire alarm – we don’t need the full story of what is actually burning or where the flames are, we just need a signal to get out of the building in time.

Examples

Deduction
π (the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter) has been deduced to have the value 3.1415926 (to 7 decimal places) A whole number being a perfect square (e.g. 4, 9, 16 etc) is indicated by the fact that it does not end in a 7 (a static condition).

Explanation
I interpret fundamentalism as a conspiracy by old men who are losing their influence to enforce their authority by invoking religion. Ancient Greeks and Romans interpreted lightning and thunder as Zeus/Jupiter hurling thunderbolts. Newton's laws are a possible understanding of planetary motion. Geologists explain the shape of the Atlantic Ocean as due to Plate Tectonics. Electrons as small objects orbiting a nucleus of heavier objects is an analogy for sub-atomic behaviour. Market analysts ascribed the drop in retail sales to higher prices.

Forethought
The Met office predicted scattered showers in the Adelaide area starting late afternoon tomorrow. Market analysts predicted that if prices keep rising, sales will drop even further. Government stimulus spending is a solution for economic stagnation. New legislation is (or maybe is not) the solution to the current surge in gang-related violence.

Insight, Opinion
The way things are going, my insight is that the government may have to be thinking of reducing fuel tax. I feel that a change in the weather may be coming. If increases in life expectancy continues, then we extrapolate that by 2050 more than 50% of the population will be over 60. If this coin has come up heads 20 times in a row, then I expect it will also come up heads on the 21st throw.

Justification
A carbon emissions trading scheme is justified by the predictions on global warming. The insurance company justified an increase in premiums by the spike in the number and amount of claims. A new law on gangs may be justified by the increase in gang-related crime.

Summarisation
The statistician summarised the inflation over the last 12 months as 4% per annum, + or - 0.5%. The air raid warning system summarized the intelligence on incoming bombers and signalled (Interaction!) people to head for the air raid shelter