I am finally finishing the post-trip craziness. This means that I will soon be able to actually blog the HT05 conference.
I am also finally digging into my research wholeheartedly. This semester promises to be very instructive. I'm finishing my honors thesis on mid-19th century Philadelphia's ethnic experience. But I'm also conducting a directed study in the philosophy of science.
My first book? Models and Metaphors, by Max Black.
Wow. Anyone intending to do anything on the Semantic Web must read this book. Black was a specialist in the philosophy of mathematics, and this analysis of language/philosophy identifies and begins to address most of the toughest questions facing the Semantic Web today.
Sure, it's a tough read. I wouldn't suggest it for after-dinner lounging in the sofa with a glass of your favorite beverage. But it's worth the effort.
A more thorough analysis should follow in the next week or so. But here's a preview:
One of the hardest questions faced by Semantic Web architects is very simple: what is a meaning? Here's what black says:
Here, we see the basic difficulties of designing a system which can automate the handling of ontologies.
This is going to be a very profitable study. I'm really excited. I get to think about fundamental issues, dig into some philosophy/linguistics, and generally poke around lots of interesting topics. I'm going to be writing a series of small papers to help me learn the literature; these papers will probably appear on the blog.
But speaking about something concerned with linguistic philosophy and science, check out this: a new framework which describes trigonometry without sines, cosines, or tangents