SUO: Re: Query: Reification
Adam Pease wrote:
>
> Jon,
> I have only what I'd call a "layman's" understanding of this term, but
> in the context I've used it, I intend it to signify the creation of a term
> to denote a statement of a relation. A better definition is provided at
>
> http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASC/Reification.html
>
> treatment of an analytic or abstract relationship as though it were a
> concrete entity. (Young, p. l09)
>
> The process of regarding something abstract as a material entity,
> Whitehead's "fallacy of misplaced concreteness," e.g., the mistake
> of confusing a system, which is a construct, with the physical entity
> described in its terms (see general systems theory). In social systems
> reification is encouraged by the use of language and underlies many
> processes of constructing social reality. (Krippendorff)
>
> At 12:22 AM 10/21/2000 -0400, Jon Awbrey wrote:
> > ¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤
> >
> > Adam,
> >
> > In trying to follow the exchange between you and Matthew
> > concerned with your joint and several notions of reducing
> > n-ary (n-valent) relations to binary (bivalent) relations,
> > I find myself tripped up a little by your many references
> > to a problematic issue of "reification". It is likely
> > that I may have missed an old discussion and I sort of
> > know what the word means in a general way, but I was
> > wondering if maybe you could give me some sense of
> > what your specific use of it means in this context.
> >
> > Thanx in Prospect,
> >
> > Jon
> >
> > P.S. I hope you appreciate the fact that I resisted the
> > joke about (Between Exchange Adam Matthew) as long
> > as I did.
> > J.A.
> >
> > ¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤
>
> -----------------
> Adam Pease
> Teknowledge
> (650) 424-0500 x571
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Adam,
Okay, it looks like we are on (or near) the same (web) page
with this, though we may still be looking at the issue from
different angles, or in different lights. At any rate, this
looks like a very good topic for discussion, and I think that
John Sowa's world-model-theory triptych, that he painted for us
at an earlier point in a strikingly similar discussion, may also
have a bearing on these questions:
<http://www.bestweb.net/~sowa/ontology/mthworld.gif>
But I have to get to some household chores -- and there is
the all-important diversion of the MSU-UoM game today --
so it will probably be after the weekend before I get back
to this.
Cheers, Many Cheers,
Jon
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