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Re: [jboske] Ontology #1


la nitcion cusku di'e

I define, in terms of this notion of splitting into reciprocals, the
three characteristic functions of Lojban: is-an-individual,
is-a-substance, is-a-collective. I'll call these kairselci, kairmarji,
and kairgirzu.


Ok. As you say, the same entity can be kairselci/kairmarji/
kairgirzu with respect to different properties. For example,
take a house made of cards. We have:

le zdani cu kairselci le ka ce'u se kumfa reda
The house is an individual in terms of having two rooms.

le zdani cu kairgirzu le ka ce'u karda
The house is a collective in terms of being cards.

le zdani cu kairmarji le ka ce'u tsuple
The house is substance in terms of being cardboard.

Also, the same property can be an individual/substance/
collective as property of different entities. For example:

la lojbab cu kairselci le ka ce'u remna
Lojbab is an individual in terms of being human.

le pipnybevri cimei cu kairgirzu le ka ce'u remna
The piano-carrying threesome is a collective in terms of being human.

le xance poi nenri le botpi cu kairmarji le ka ce'u remna
The hand inside the bottle is a substance in terms of being human.

This means that to describe Lojbab in terms of {remna},
I'd have to use {le-INDIVIDUAL remna}, to describe the
carrying thresome in terms of {remna}, I have to use
{le-COLLECTIVE remna} and to describe the hand in terms
of {remna} I have to use {le-SUBSTANCE remna}.

I emphasise that an entity can be a substance with respect to one
property, and an individual with respect to another. If I eat a kiwi
fruit, I'm eating it as a substance.


I'm not sure that's right. If you're eating _a_ kiwi fruit, then
you're eating it as an individual. If you are eating kiwi fruit,
then you're eating substance. In fact you may be describing
the very same situation, but the descriptions are different (and
not equivalent). In Lojban we could distinguish {mi citka
le-INDIVIDUAL grutrkiui}, {mi citka le-SUBSTANCE grutrkiui} and
{mi citka le-COLLECTIVE grutrkiui}.

mu'o mi'e xorxes


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