> >
> > So you need a theory of individuals, which allows them to preserve
> > their identity over time, while gaining and losing parts.
>
>MW: I thought we all needed this. Or else how do you propose dealing
>with something as ordinary as a car when you change a tyre or its
>spark plugs. (01)
The details are supplied in full in: (02)
http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/articles/SNAP_SPAN.pdf (03)
Basically, all instance-level x part_of y
assertions for 3D objects are indexed by times.
This is not necessary for 4D objects, since
processes do not gain and lose parts over time. (04)
>MW: You could of course follow the approach you have outlined above
>and insist that there are no car-individuals, but only car-types.
>However, this is so counter-intuitive I imagine you have some other
>solution in mind that I await with interest. (05)
See above. (06)
>
> >
> > >MW: I see the set of all the rabbits for all time, the sets
> > of all rabbits
> > >for points or periods in time, and if you want, the
> > aggregate of their
> > >spatio-temporal extents (but these are not I think so interesting in
> > >this case).
> > >All have unchanging membership/parts.
> >
> > The species rabbit, then, is for you the set of all the rabbits which
> > ever existed, exist, or will exist.
>
>MW: Yes.
>
> > Does it include rabbit embryos and rabbit corpses? Or detached rabbit
> > arms?
>
>MW: You get to choose. What are your answers to those questions? (07)
Touché (08)
> > Is there something which all its members share in common (a
> > type, we might call it), in virtue of which it is such an interesting
> > object for biologists' study?
>
>MW: Yes. There are some common characteristics of all the members of the
>set which I can record against the set as a basis for recognising
>members when you see them. (09)
So when you write: (010)
'Harvey has the characteristics common to all and only the rabbits' (011)
then I write (012)
'Harvey instance_of rabbit' (013)
Good.
BS (014)
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