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 Introduction - "Transformation"

General Meaning

This category is primarily concerned with change in the state of affairs of whatever involves or interests us. The relationships are typically between two things or sets of things (roles A and B) and a mechanism C. In this representation we use A as the resulting state of affairs, outcome or output; B is the initial state of affairs, input, ingredients or source.

Category Icon

The icon represents chemistry (substances in test tubes, liquid in a glass container, a molecule diagram etc) as an example of a field where transformations (in this case reactions) of one state of affairs into another is a common feature.

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

One or more substances, physical objects or abstract ideas (role A) are generated by transforming from another one or set (role B). Role C represents the mechanism, which may be a natural or ongoing Process, or a deliberate Action or Procedure. Role M includes both Actions and Procedures that combine Actions in some orders. Tools (role I) may also be involved. An additional role G is the Agent, or Agency, i.e. a person or group who takes responsibility for making the change happen. The G role may in fact be split between many sub-roles (see below).

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

Relationship Types in this Category

All the following variations are concerned with the results of change:

Creation and Manufacture, code “Tc”:

• is produced from,  is manufactured from - some input things, by a process under control of an operator.
• is result of, is created by, appeared by - a cause or process. In this case the original thing did not exist from the observer's point of view (although in many case it was in fact there - somewhere!)

Reproduction, code “Tr”:

• is copy of, is clone of - an original thing using a reproduction process
• is procreated from - two animals using a reproduction process

Modification and Metamorphosis, code “Tm”:

•  is derived from, is rearrangement of, is updated version of, is improved version of - an original thing using a process. This is about versions of something that is being developed.
• is variant of - applies to artifacts such as designs, plans, documents or computer programs, following editing or re-thinking
• is changed structure of a chemical or natural process, cooking, mixing, or any other form of transformation process

Destruction and Consumption, code “Td”:

• is consumed by - a thing (person or animal eating, chemical process). By analogy with is created by, this removes the thing from the observer's interest, but possibly it may just get chemically altered or decomposed. But some things, e.g. ideas, may die with the person that has them unless they commit them to a lasting record.
• is a degraded form of - something that was formerly in good condition but has since deteriorated, rusted, gone bad etc
• is ruins of, is remains of

Transfer, code “Tt”:

• is transferred in legal ownership from, is bought from, is given by, is inherited from - owner B to owner A
• is transferred in physical possession from holder B to holder A. This and the next type do not change the essence of the original, just some attributes saying who “has it” at the time.
• is on loan from owner B to holder A.
• is awarded by
• is moved from location B to location A, container B to container A, etc; as above, with respect to the location of the thing (if location is a relevant property).

Examples

Creation
Porridge is produced from a mixture of rolled oats and water by applying heat (cooking). Lava is the result of a volcanic eruption. Computer Science appeared by a consensus of practitioners and academics.

Reproduction
My map of Adelaide is a copy of Fullers' master copy for 2008. The master copy for 2008 is updated from the 2007 version. Shakespeare's Juliet was procreated from Signor and Signora Capuletti of Verona.

Modification
The furniture layout in the office is a rearrangement of how it was last week. Our business plan for next year is a variant of what we proposed for this year. Yoghurt is a changed structure of milk due to bacterial action. Energy and waste products are a change structure of the food I ate earlier.

Destruction
My diary for 1976 was consumed in a fire. The caloric theory of heat was exploded by Count Rumford. Some of my pullovers are a moth-eaten version of what I originally bought. This yoghurt is a degraded form of what my wife originally made - it has gone sour. Troy as we see it today is the ruins of a formerly thriving city

Transfer
My computer was bought from Dell. My wife's house is inherited from her father. The screwdriver was transferred to me from my wife when I was fixing the shelving. The book I am reading on Geology is on loan from Burnside library. My wife was awarded a diploma by the university. The bookcase was moved from our previous home to where we live now.

Comments

Role C
Most transformations involve a mechanism, which can be:

• a process that interferes with the previous state of affairs
• a deliberate action or procedure
• an inadvertent action, interference or accident

Note that we do not use the word "cause"; like "fault", that is usually a matter of assertion by observers when trying to pin responsibility on someone else.

Role G and its sub-roles
Important in all transformation relationships are the subtly different sub-roles of the different agents involved. The same person might take several of these roles, or they may all go to different individuals.

• initiator - the human, animal, group, robot, automatic system etc who initiates the transformation, maybe via some signalling mechanism, e.g. pressing a button, clicking a mouse on a screen location
• director - the human who oversees the operation, e.g. the foreman, the manager, the mahout (if an elephant does the work)
• performer - the agent that physically carries out the operation, possibly with the help of some tool
• assistant - an agent that stands by and gives help when asked
• consultant - an agent who gives advice when the specialist knowledge of other agents is not sufficient
• supporter - an agent who does not directly take part but encourages the operation, e.g. with money or other incentives, refreshments, applause etc
• stakeholder - someone who has provided resources for the operation who stands to gain (or lose) if the operation goes well (or badly)
• financier - a particular case of a stakeholder who has provided money resources
• unwitting participant - someone who gets caught up in the operation, not by choice.

Finally, we note that transformations often have side effects.