Information Artifact Ontology: General Background Barry Smith 1
Military Doctrine and Standardization of Terminology 3rd Century BC Standardized beacon signals used by Chinese military along Great Wall 1792 Drill manual for the units of the Continental Army to respond uniformly to commands during the Revolutionary War 1943 General James Gavin’s Training Memorandum on the Employment of Airborne Forces 2
General James Gavin, On to Berlin: Battles of an Airborne Commander for success of the D-Day invasion ‘one of our most critical needs was to standardize the operating practices of our forces. … even simple terminology had to be agreed upon. … British flew in what they called “bomber stream” formations, We preferred troop-carrier group formations of 36 planes that flew in a V... We referred to landing area as the “jump area,” the British called it “drop zone,” …’ 3
4
5
Current state DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (Joint Publication 1-02) New military dictionaries and terminology artifacts continue to be developed Dominant ethos: Library Science (all terminologies are equal), Lexicography (logical consistency of definitions is not important) Lexicons just grow 6
Two kinds of data 1.Data about entities in the world (topics, subject-matters) standard ontologies 2. Data about the information artifacts in which these entities are represented (= metadata) Dublin Core Information Artifact Ontology and extensions, including IAO-Intel 7
The Dublin Core: How not to solve the problem of creating consistent information artifact metadata 8
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) an open organization supporting innovation in metadata design and best practices across the metadata ecology Resource (as in ‘RDF’) + 15 basic ‘elements’: 0. RESOURCE8. TYPE 1. TITLE9. FORMAT 2. CREATOR 10. IDENTIFIER 3. SUBJECT 11. SOURCE 4. DESCRIPTION 12. LANGUAGE 5. PUBLISHER 13. RELATION 6. CONTRIBUTORS14. COVERAGE 7. DATE 15. RIGHTS MANAGEMENT 9
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) An open organization supporting innovation in metadata design and best practices across the metadata ecology 10
11
The Core Resource (as in ‘RDF’) + 15 basic ‘elements’: 0. RESOURCE8. TYPE 1. TITLE9. FORMAT 2. CREATOR 10. IDENTIFIER 3. SUBJECT 11. SOURCE 4. DESCRIPTION 12. LANGUAGE 5. PUBLISHER 13. RELATION 6. CONTRIBUTORS14. COVERAGE 7. DATE 15. RIGHTS MANAGEMENT 12
1) What’s a “resource”?resource A resource is anything that has identity. Familiar examples include an electronic document, an image, a service (e.g., "today's weather report for Los Angeles"), and a collection of other resources. Assumption: resource = information artifact 2) How do “elements” apply to “resources”?elements An Element is a characteristic that a resource may “have”, such as a Title, Publisher, or Subject. 13
The same resource can be instantiated in different ways FormatFormat: The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource. Examples of dimensions include size and duration. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the list of Internet Media Types [MIME]. Example: image/jpeg.MIME The Core (cont.) 14
What describes the content / topic / subject-matter? TitleTitle: The name given to the resource. DescriptionDescription: An account of the content of the resource. Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, table of contents, reference to a graphical representation of content or a free-text account of the content. SubjectSubject: The topic of the content of the resource. Typically, a subject will be expressed as keywords or key phrases or classification codes that describe the topic of the resource. The Core (cont.) 15
Benefits of Dublin Core Available in multiple formats W3C recommended Mapping to PROV 16
Problems with Dublin Core Scope not defined (‘anthing that has identity’) Does not provide logical definitions, but relies rather on vague natural language expressions (including use of “scare” “quotes” to warn the user that terms are not intended literally) Provides only suggestive guidance as to use of associated standards Does not interoperate well with other (topic) ontologies 17
Confuses words and things Source: A reference to a resource from which the present resource is derived. The present resource may be derived from the Source resource in whole or part. Source 18
Engages in sloppy bundling TypeType: The nature or genre of the content of the resource. Type includes terms describing general categories, functions, genres, or aggregation levels for content. What is ‘content of the resource’? Is the nature of the content distinct from the nature of the resource? No taxonomic organization, but rather a tangled hierarchy No distinction between things (continuants) and processes (occurrents) – consider performance of a work 19
Does not address the goals of a Metadata Ontology Ability to expand consistently to new application areas Ability to gracefully integrate with domain ontologies and with other IA-related ontologies Ability to represent metadata of different categories – Complex application-specific content specific ways in which one IA relates to another IA – Content vs. Bearers of content 20
Requirements to Achieve These Goals Conformance to ontology best practices – lopment_of_a_Shared_Semantic_Resource lopment_of_a_Shared_Semantic_Resource – st_Practices st_Practices – intro/pdf/5.%20Ontology%20Design.pdf intro/pdf/5.%20Ontology%20Design.pdf Conformance to an upper level ontology as starting point for coherent definitions Separation of aspects of an information artifact such as physical bearer, content, content organization 21
DC Does Not Conform to Best Practices Term Name: LocationPeriodOrJurisdiction URI: Label: Location, Period, or Jurisdiction Definition: A location, period of time, or jurisdiction. LOCATION PERIOD OR JURISDICTION is defined in the DC hierarchy as a subclass of LOCATION 22
Problems with verbal definitions – PROVENANCE – “A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation.” – The same definition is applied to the class and the property: PROVENANCE STATEMENT that is the Range of PROVENANCE is defined in exactly the same way. 23
Does Not Conform to an ULO DC does not conform to an upper level ontology and does not show signs of downward development from more general to more specific terms. As a result – Generic element associations are absent or arbitrary or informal. – If such associations were established, they would need to be established manually instead of being inherited. For example, there are such classes as AGENT and AGENT CLASS where AGENT CLASS is defined as “A group of agents” but no formal relation with the class AGENT is asserted. 24
Does Not Conform to an ULO (cont.) In the absence of a high-level single hierarchy, the relations between classes are not clear. For example PROVENANCE is defined as “A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation” seems to overlap with CREATOR, CONTRIBUTOR, and IS VERSION OF. But how? 25
Limited Usability of DC DC does not try to separately address such aspects of an information artifact as its physical bearer, content, and content organization Will not allow for rich explications and annotations of document repositories, in particular repositories of military documents, and for various classifications of documents that are based on the content or bearer 26
Information Artifact Ontology (IAO) Background: – Ontology for Biomedical Investigations – Scientific Publications How shall we start? – Artifacts (vs. utterances, thoughts) – Aboutness / Representation 27
28 Shimon Edelman’s Riddle of Representation two humans, a monkey, and a robot are looking at a piece of cheese; what is common to the representational processes in their visual systems?
29 Answer: The cheese, of course
30 The real cheese
Information Content Entities (ICEs) ICEs are about something in reality (they have this something as a subject; they represent, or mention or describe this something; they inform us about this something). Aboutness may be identifiable from different perspectives. Thus one analyst may interpret a given ICE as being about the geography of a given encampment; another may view it as providing information about the morale of those encamped there. 31
Information artifact (roughly) an entity created through some deliberate act or acts by one or more human beings, and which endures through time, potentially in multiple (for example digital or printed) copies Examples: a diagram on a sheet of paper, a video file, a map on a computer monitor, an article in a newspaper, a message on a network, the output of some querying process in a computer memory 32
What IAO is for IAO is not designed to replace existing ontological or other standards lots of documents exist conforming to lots of different standards purpose of IAO is to allow generation of the needed metadata in a uniform, non-redundant and algorithmically processable fashion arms-length tagging of data and literature 33
Sample terms in IAO Report Proper Name Summary Diagram Overlay Serial Number Estimate List Order Matrix Template Geographical Coordinate Set 34
Attributes of Information Artifacts Examples – Purpose – Lifecycle Stage (draft, finished version, revision) – Language, – Format – Provenance – Source (person, organization) These are generic attributes, common to all areas IAO will contain a Low-Level Ontology module for each dimension 35
Generic Purpose Attributes – Descriptive purpose: scientific paper, newspaper article, after-action report – Prescriptive purpose: legal code, license, statement of rules of engagement – Directive purpose (of specifying a plan or method for achieving something): instruction, manual, protocol – Designative purpose: a registry of members of an organization, a phone book, a database linking proper names of persons with their social security numbers Cf. Speech Act Theory / Document Act Theory 36
IAO-Intel Attribute Dimensions Role in the Intelligence Process (JP 3-0, III-11) Priority Intelligence Requirement (PIR) Commander’s Critical Information Requirement (CCIR) Essential Element of Information (EEI) Essential Element of Friendly Information (EEFI) Confidence Level (JP 2.0, Appendix A) Highly Likely Likely Even Chance Unlikely Highly Unlikely Discipline (JP 2.0, I-5) Legal Ideology Religion Propaganda Intelligence Signal Human Rumor intelligence Web intelligence Intelligence Excellence (JP 2.0, II-6) Anticipatory Timely Accurate Usable Complete Relevant Objective Available 37
Use of IAO-Intel – Example: Digitalizing an MCOO IA #1 - Modified Combined Obstacle Overlay (MCOO) - a joint intelligence preparation of the operational environment product used to portray the militarily significant aspects of the operational environment, such as obstacles restricting military movement, key geography, and military objectives. 38
Digitalizing an MCOO Annotations to the attributes of IA#1 – ICE: MCOO – IBE: Acetate Sheet – uses-symbology MIL-STD-2525C – authored-by person #4644 Annotations relating to the aboutness of IA#1 – Avenue of Approach – Strategic Defense Belt – Amphibious Operations – Objective 39
Anatomy Ontology (FMA*, CARO) Environment Ontology (EnvO) Infectious Disease Ontology (IDO*) Biological Process Ontology (GO*) Cell Ontology (CL) Cellular Component Ontology (FMA*, GO*) Phenotypic Quality Ontology (PaTO) Subcellular Anatomy Ontology (SAO) Sequence Ontology (SO*) Molecular Function (GO*) Protein Ontology (PRO*) Extension Strategy + Modular Organization top level mid-level domain level Information Artifact Ontology (IAO) Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI) Spatial Ontology (BSPO) Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) 40
IAO-ScienceIAO-Intel IAO-Computing IAO- Biology IAO- Physics IAO- Intel- Navy IAO- Intel- Army IAO- Intel- FBI IAO- Software EMO- Ontology Each module built by downward population from its parent top level mid-level (generic hub) domain level (spokes populating downwards) Information Artifact Ontology(IAO) Document Act Ontology Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) 41
Users of BFO Examples AIRS Ontologies cROP Ontologies MilPortal Ontologies NIF Standard Ontologies OBO Foundry Ontologies OAE Ontology of Adverse Events EnvO Emotion Ontology IDO Infectious Disease Ontology (NIAID) US Army Biometrics Ontology 42
Continuant 43 BFO Occurrent
Continuant 44 BFO Occurrent Document Act
Continuant 45 BFO
Continuant 46 BFO Independent Continuant
47 BFO Occurrent Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant Generically Dependent Continuant
48 BFO Occurrent Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant is tied to just one bearer Generically Dependent Continuant
49 BFO Occurrent Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant is tied to just one bearer Generically Dependent Continuant can migrate from one bearer to another
Continuant 50 BFO Occurrent Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant Generically Dependent Continuant universals instances this man, that book this excitation pattern, that pattern of piles of ink this gene sequence, this digital image
Continuant Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant Quality 51 Generically Dependent Continuant Material Entity BFO DispositionRole
Continuant Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant Quality 52 Generically Dependent Continuant Material Entity Information Bearing Entity Information Quality Entity depends_on BFO IAO
Continuant Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant Quality Information Content Entity 53 Generically Dependent Continuant Material Entity BFO IAO
Continuant Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant Quality Information Content Entity 54 Generically Dependent Continuant Material Entity Information Bearing Entity Information Quality Entity depends_on concretized_by BFO IAO
Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant Quality Information Content Entity 55 Generically Dependent Continuant Material Entity Information Bearing Entity Information Quality Entity depends_on concretized_by universals instances this hard drive, that book this excitation pattern, that pattern of piles of ink this pdf file this digital image
Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant Quality Information Content / Structure Entity 56 Generically Dependent Continuant Material Entity Information Bearing Entity Information Quality Entity depends_on concretized_by universals instances this hard drive, that book this excitation pattern, that pattern of piles of ink this pdf file this digital image
located near Latrine Well ‘VT ’ Distance Measurement Result Village Name ‘Khanabad Village’ Village is_a instance_ of Geopolitical Entity Spatial Region Geographic Coordinate Set designates instance_of located in instance_of has location designates has location instance_o f ’16 meters’ instance_of measurement_of 57 Universals and Instances (from Bill Mandrick)
IAO and BFO BFO: Generically Dependent Continuant BFO: Independent Continuant BFO: Specifically Dependent Continuant Information Content Entity (ICE) Information Quality Entity (Pattern) (IQE) Information Structure Entity (ISE) Information Bearing Entity (IBE) 58
Information Artifacts artifact =def. an entity created through some deliberate act or acts by one or more human beings and which endures through time information artifact: an artifact that created to serve as a bearer of information (a) information bearing entity (IBE) – a hard drive, a passport, a piece of paper with a drawing of a map (b) information content entity (ICE) – an entity which is about something and which can potentially exist in multiple (for example digital or printed) copies – a jpg file, a pdf file 59
IAO: information content entity =def. an entity that is generically dependent on some artifact and stands in the relation of aboutness to some entity Problems of non-referring information entities Problems of information structure entities 60
Types and tokens à la C. S. Peirce Copyable information artifacts can exist both as tokens Peirce and as types Peirce Token Peirce = the particular information artifact of interest, tied to some particular physical information bearer: the photographic image on this piece of paper retrieved from this enemy combatant Type Peirce = The copyable information entity that is carried by the artifact in question. The same photographic image type may be printed out in multiple paper tokens Warning: this is not the same as the instance-class distinction 61
Tokens Peirce of the type ‘Peirce’ Copyable information artifacts can exist both as tokens Peirce and as types Peirce Token Peirce = the particular information artifact of interest, tied to some particular physical information bearer: the photographic image on this piece of paper retrieved from this enemy combatant Type Peirce = The copyable information entity that is carried by the artifact in question. The same photographic image type may be printed out in multiple paper tokens Warning: this is not the same as the instance-class distinction 62
Tokens Peirce of the type ‘Peirce’ Copyable information artifacts can exist both as tokens Peirce and as types Peirce Token Peirce = the particular information artifact of interest, tied to some particular physical information bearer: the photographic image on this piece of paper retrieved from this enemy combatant Type Peirce = The copyable information entity that is carried by the artifact in question. The same photographic image type may be printed out in multiple paper tokens Warning: this is not the same as the instance-class distinction Seven tokens 63
Each IA is concretized_by at least one IQE (Information Quality Entity) The same IA can be concretized in multiple different media (paper, silicon, neuron …) Concretization 64
Generically dependent continuants such as plans, laws … are concretized in specifically dependent continuants (the plan in your head, the protocol being realized by your research team, the law being implemented by this government agency) 65
Types and tokens A A A One type, three tokens A type is a pattern Patterns can be complex 66
fragment of the War and Peace pattern 67
War and Peace is an instance of the universal novel Specifically Dependent Continuant War and Peace quality 68 Independent Continuant This bound copy of War and Peace Generically Dependent Continuant The novel War and Peace instance_of depends_on concretized_by
Is War and Peace a kind or an instance? If War and Peace were a kind, and the copies of War and Peace in my library and in your library were instances, then there would be many War(s) and Peaces. Hence War and Peace is an instance. What is a work of literature? 69
There can be two copies of the US Declaration of Independence There cannot be two US Declarations of Independence There cannot be subkinds of the US Declaration of Independence Hence the US Declaration of Independent is an instance and not a kind. There are not two Declarations of Independence 70
Rule for universals Their names are pluralizable There can be three people There cannot be three Michelle Obamas. Information Content Entities are GDCs = entities which can exist in many copies 71
they have a different kind of provenance ◦ Aspirin as product of Bayer GmbH ◦ aspirin as molecular structure ◦ This Financial Report is submitted to the SEC Generically dependent continuants are distinct from universals 72
IAO and BFO BFO: Generically Dependent Continuant BFO: Independent Continuant BFO: Specifically Dependent Continuant Information Content Entity (ICE) Information Quality Entity (Pattern) (IQE) Information Structure Entity (ISE) Information Bearing Entity (IBE) 73
Information Bearing Entities – IBEs An IBE is a material entity that has been created to serve as a bearer of information. IBEs are either (1) self-sufficient material wholes, or (2) proper material parts of such wholes. Examples under (1): a hard drive, a paper printout (e.g., a report) Examples under (2): a specific sector on a hard drive, a single page of a paper printout. 74
Information Quality Entities (IQEs) An IQE is the pattern on an IBE in virtue of which it is a bearer of some information An IQE exists in a given IBE because of a certain patterned arrangement for example of ink or other chemicals, or of electromagnetic excitations. Every ICE is concretized by at least one IQE 75
Information Structure Entities (ISEs) Information Structure Entity (ISE) is a structural part of an ICE, for example an empty cell in a spreadsheet; or a blank Microsoft Word file. ISEs thus capture part of what is involved when we talk about the ‘format’ of an IA. 76
Organization of IAO-Intel – IA ‘IA’ refers either – to some combination of ICEs and ISEs (roughly: the IA as body of copyable information content); or – to some concretization of ICEs and ISEs in some IBE in which some IQE inheres (the information artifact is: this content here and now, on this specific computer screen or this printed page). Different information artifact kinds will differ in different ways along these dimensions, as illustrated in Table 2. 77
IAIBEISEICE MS Word file (.doc,.docx) Hard drive (magnetized sector) MS Word format Varies KML file Hard drive (magnetized sector) KML Map overlay JPEG file (.jpg) Hard drive (magnetized sector) JPEG format Image file Hard drive (magnetized sector) Internet Message Format (e.g., RFC 5322 compliant) Message USMTF Message file A specific government network USMTF Format Message Passport Paper document; (may include photographs, RFID tags) ID formats, security marking formats … Name, Personal data, Passport number, Visas Title DeedOfficial paper documentVaries ReportVaries Overlay Sheet ( e.g. Map Overlay Sheet) Acetate sheet MIL-STD-2525 Symbols; FM Operational Terms and Graphics Map overlay 78
IAO and BFO BFO: Generically Dependent Continuant BFO: Independent Continuant BFO: Specifically Dependent Continuant Information Content Entity (ICE) Information Quality Entity (Pattern) (IQE) Information Structure Entity (ISE) Information Bearing Entity (IBE) 79
IAO and BFO (cont.) BFO relations between ICEs, ISEs, IQEs and IBEs can be set forth as follows: – ICE generically-depends-on IBE – ISE generically-depends-on IBE – IQE specifically-depends-on IBE – ICE concretized-by IQE – ISE concretized-by IQE IAO contains in addition relations which allow to formulate metadata concerning attributes of IAs such as author, creation date, classification status, and so forth 80
Anatomy Ontology (FMA*, CARO) Environment Ontology (EnvO) Infectious Disease Ontology (IDO*) Biological Process Ontology (GO*) Cell Ontology (CL) Cellular Component Ontology (FMA*, GO*) Phenotypic Quality Ontology (PaTO) Subcellular Anatomy Ontology (SAO) Sequence Ontology (SO*) Molecular Function (GO*) Protein Ontology (PRO*) Extension Strategy + Modular Organization top level mid-level domain level Information Artifact Ontology (IAO) Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI) Spatial Ontology (BSPO) Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) 81
OBO Foundry approach extended into other domains (all populating downwards from BFO) 82 NIF StandardNeuroscience Information Framework IDO ConsortiumInfectious Disease Ontology cROPCommon Reference Ontologies for Plants MilPortal.orgMilitary Ontology AIRS Ontology SuiteIntelligence Ontology Suite
83
Language 84 Speech actsWriting Acts of thinking*Printing Document acts … *Mental Functioning Ontology (MFO)
Coverage domain of IAO 85 Speech actsWriting Acts of thinkingPrinting Document acts …
Generic Purpose Attributes – Descriptive purpose: scientific paper, newspaper article, after-action report – Prescriptive purpose: legal code, license, statement of rules of engagement – Directive purpose (of specifying a plan or method for achieving something): instruction, manual, protocol – Designative purpose: a registry of members of an organization, a phone book, a database linking proper names of persons with their social security numbers 86
Mental Functioning Ontology (MFO) 87
88
John Searle: start with biology, add speech 89
The Searle Thesis Through the performance of speech acts (of promising, marrying, accusing, exchusing) we bring into being ₋claims, ₋obligations, ₋relations of authority, ₋relations of membership, … = the entities making up the ontology of the social world 90
How, on this view, can institutional entities, endure through time? in the local case: through beliefs, memories, desires – planning a weekly coffee morning with your friends … But what about the global case (where there is no face-to-face contact, where there are many cheaters, where beliefs conflict ontologically)? 91
Hernando de Soto Institute for Liberty and Democracy, Lima, Peru Bill Clinton: “The most promising anti-poverty initiative in the world” 92
The de Soto thesis: documents and document systems are the mechanisms for creating the institutional orders of Western capitalism The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, New York: Basic Books,
With the invention of documented claims and obligations a new dimension of socio-economic reality comes into existence: bank accounts, stocks, shares, bonds, mortgages, credit cards these form enduring social networks – document systems – of entirely new types debts become information entities analogous to digital artifacts 94
From speech act theory to document act theory 95 Generalizing the de Soto thesis: documents and document systems are the mechanisms for creating all institutional orders of modern civilization
96 Identity
An extralegal standardized sales contract for a one- acre parcel in the outskirts of Arusha, including the involvement of witnesses in the preparation of the document and the use of fingerprints to ensure the authenticity of the document. Standardization 97
Standardized documents allow standardized transactions improve the flow of communications allow assets to be described using standard categories, so as to enable comparisons allow the transition from ad hoc narratives (as in ancient title deeds) to structured representations communication is advanced because signals are abbreviated supports the creation of more effective registries 98
A. N. Whitehead It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy-books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. 99
Standardized documents enable – new types of distributed ownership through stocks, shares, pensions, … – currency notes – new types of legal accountability – new types of business organization – new types of massively planned social agency – democracy – the state – law … 100
Scope of document act theory the social and institutional (deontic, quasi- legal) powers of documents the sorts of things we can do with documents the social interactions in which documents play an essential role the enduring institutional systems to which documents belong 101
The ontology not only of capital, bankruptcy, stock market … but also of the Holy Roman Empire the Swedish language the United Nations the internet a symphony concert urban planning mathematicians is to be understood in terms of the different sorts of documents which these phenomena involve 102
103 How to do things with words (speech act theory) 1.We represent how things are: record, report, description, assertion … 2.We try to get people to do things: request, order, command … 3.We commit ourselves to doing things promise, agreement, … 4.We bring about changes in the world through utterances congratulating, blessing, forgiving …
104 How to do things with documents (document act theory) 1.We represent how things are: map, chemical diagram, x-ray image, … 2.We try to get people to do things: blueprint, musical score, plan of battle … 3.We commit ourselves to doing things contract, planning agreement, flow chart … 4.We bring about changes in the world through document acts organigram, act of parliament, license, diploma …
How to do things with diagrams 105
From speech acts to document acts Documents can be copied, modified, stored … Documents can be aggregated (attachment of liens …) Documents can be meshed together (for example into plans and sub-plans – as in a musical score, plans for a military operation) Documents can be algorithmically executable (Turbotax …) 106
John Searle: Directions of fit world-to-mind: I promise I will mow your lawn tomorrow mind-to-world: I see that my lawn has been mowed automatic mind-to-world-and-world-to- mind: I say “I promise to pay you $100 dollars” and thereby make it true that I promise to pay you $100 dollars 107
Directions of fit for documents world-to-mind: a plan is formulated to change the world (to make it conform to the mind of the planner …) mind-to-world: a report is published evaluating the success of the execution of the plan automatic mind-to-world-and-world-to- mind: Act of Parliament is published declaring that such-and-such is the law and such-and-such is the law 108
(musical) directions of fit world-to-score: the score tells the world how to shape itself to create a performance that is in conformance with the score score-to-world: the score, when the performance is completed, serves as a record of the performance automatic score-to-world-and-world-to- score: Berlioz completes the score and thereby brings into being a work that is precisely in conformance to the score 109
Individual performers may use their scores in different ways 1.they may mark up their copies of the score to add specific instructions for their own use 2.they may mark up their copy of the score to record errors in their own performance 110
111 what begins as a plan, ends as a record
Blueprint what begins as a plan ends as a record of process of product 112
From speech acts to document acts 113 Searle, Tuomela, Gilbert, Bratman deal with simple local interaction of cooperative agents communicating by speech “Would you like to dance?” “Let’s lift this table” “Shall we cook dinner together?” “Waiter, bring me a beer!” …
Scott J. Shapiro, “Massively Shared Agency”, 2013 [Bratman, Searle …] ‘are unable to account for the existence of massively shared agency. they ‘have largely concentrated on analyzing shared activities among highly committed participants. The working assumption has been that those who sing duets or paint houses together are all committed to the success of the activity.’ 114
Shapiro: To adapt standard theory of collective agency to deal with massively shared actions we need to add authority Authorities are … “mesh creating” mechanisms. When disputes between participants break out with respect to the proper way to proceed, authorities can create a mesh between the subplans of the participants by demanding that both sides accept a certain solution. Basic for Shapiro’s theory of the nature of law 115
Conclusion Documents, as much as authority, are what make possible the sorts of massively shared agency we find in business corporations, universities, organized religions, governments, legal systems, standing armies 116
Document Acts and the Ontology of Social Reality Barry Smith Rijeka, May 7,
How To Do Things With Documents Part I: Philosophy Part II: Africa 118
Massively Planned Social Agency Philosophers of language have concentrated on the speech acts involved in simple conversations among friends sharing common goals Large-scale social institutions require communication across time and space and between persons who have conflicting goals Hypothesis: Documents – and thus document acts – are indispensable to the workings of large-scale social institutions. 119
120 PART I Philosophy (Ontology) of Documents
121 Some examples of documents Made of paperNot made of paper novel newspaper recipe map journal article license dollar bill diploma contract will blueprint gravestone film credits street name sundial clay tablet car license plate policeman’s badge traffic sign
Some major types Literary document Journalistic document Scientific document Legal document Financial document Identity Document 122
What you can do with any (paper) document Burn it Lose it Throw it away Give it away Shelve it Steal it You can’t steal a speech act 123
What can you do with a literary document (Write it) Read it Criticize it Cite it Recommend it Index it Publish it Reprint it Anthologize it Recite it Perform it Review it prior to publication Review it post publication 124
what you can do with a document vs. what a document can do cite another document provide evidence document a command document a right (driver’s license) document an obligation (IOU) serve as a medium of exchange 125
126
127 We will focus here on the class of legal and financial (roughly: time-sensitive) documents of importance e.g. in security (identification documents) in commerce in law
picture of a Florida beach condo 128
Some processes in the social realm In 2007, a bank in Florida lends you $1 million You buy a beach condo for $1 million In 2008, the value of your condo collapses You owe the bank $1 million but your house is worth only $500,000 You walk away from the loan and give the keys back to the bank 129
Some objects in the social realm The bank The condo The price you paid in 2007 The price you could get in 2008 Your mortgage Your mortgage contract Your signature on the mortgage contract Your breaching of the mortgage contract The value of the mortgage in
Some ontological questions What is a debt? What is a mortgage? What is a mortgage contract? What is a signature? What is a credit card? What is a credit card number? Why do Plato and Kant have no answers to such questions? 131
Systems of mutually correlated claims and obligations are essential to the workings of societies both large and small compare how traffic laws are essential to the workings of roads 132
John Searle
The Searle Thesis Through the performance of speech acts (acts of promising, marrying, accusing, baptising) we change the world by bringing into being claims, obligations, rights, relations of authority, debts, permissions, names, … 134
How do the obligations created by speech acts hold (large and small) societies together over the long term? 135
In the local case, when you make a promise your obligation is tied to psychological factors: memories, expectations, your desire to preserve your good name But what about the non-local case? 136
Hernando de Soto Institute for Liberty and Democracy, Lima, Peru 137
The de Soto Thesis Documents and document systems are mechanisms for creating the institutional orders of modern societies The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, New York: Basic Books,
With the invention of documented claims and obligations a new dimension of socio-economic reality comes into existence: bank accounts, stocks, shares, bonds, mortgages, credit cards These form enduring social networks – document systems – of entirely new types 139
Hernando de Soto first recognized the pivotal role of documents in the ontology of socio- economic reality documents enable –new types of distributed ownership through stocks, shares, pensions –new types of legal accountability –new types of business organization 140
What document act theory is about the social and institutional (deontic, quasi-legal) powers of documents the social interactions in which documents play an essential role –for example allowing post-mortem instructions the enduring institutional systems to which documents belong 141
What happens when you sign your passport? you initiate the validity of the passport you attest to the truth of the assertions it contains (autographic) you provide a sample pattern for comparison (allographic) Three document acts for the price of one 142
Passport acts I use my passport to prove my identity You use my passport to check my identity He renews my passport They confiscate my passport to initiate my renunciation of my citizenship 143
The creative power of documents title deeds create property stock and share certificates create capital examination documents create PhDs marriage licenses create bonds of matrimony bankruptcy certificates create bankrupts statutes of incorporation create business organizations charters create universities, cities, guilds 144
The creative power of documents documents create authorities (physician’s license creates physician) authorities create documents (physician creates sick note) documents issued by an authority within the framework of a valid legal institution vs. documents issued by an authority extralegally on its own behalf (cf. US Declaration of Independence) 145
Part II Africa 146
Hernando de Soto Institute for Liberty and Democracy, Lima, Peru Bill Clinton: “The most promising anti-poverty initiative in the world” 147
All of the document types we now take for granted and all of the processes and institutions in which documents are involved had to be invented – for instance letters of credit were invented in Florence, Venice Genoa in the Middle Ages de Soto: They are being reinvented in Africa today 148
In Africa: the realm of extra-legal (spontaneously created) law In Tanzania, villages are relatively isolated from the influences of big-city law but this does not mean that they are free of legal-commercial activities and of associated institutions and of rudimentary documents 149
extralegal cell phone renting and supply of pre-paid call time Massai cell phone User 150
Mwenyekiti The Mwenyekiti (or democratically elected village chairman in Tanzania) 151
identification Document in which a Mwenyekiti from the Kibaha area certifies the identity of an individual from his village. Both photograph and signature are authenticated with an official stamp. 152
identification Marks used to identify ownership of the cattle at an auction market in Dodoma. The cattle identification by branding serves as the basis for a formal pledge system. 153
adjudication Elders engaged in dispute resolution in Kisongo (Tanzania) dealing with conflicts about family matters, parcel boundaries and other property issues. Evidence is brought from witnesses and community members. 154
Documentation of the resolution of a dispute over land in the Arusha area and of the property rights thereby established. A council of notable elders is selected as judges and they follow established rules for the hearing, for presenting and processing evidence before the community. 155
property right The difference between a piece of land and property is that property can be set out in a written document with determinate meaning. This document creates and establishes the right, which ties owner to physical asset in an enduring way. The system of such documents creates a new abstract order 156
registration The Mwenyekiti keeps records of births deaths, contracts..., provides written and unwritten proof of customary rights of occupancy, participates in real estate transactions as witness 157
registration registration makes documents permanently accessible, providing in one single source records of the information required to know who owns what without this information, the combination and mobilization of assets is risky, and it is impossible to apply legal provisions against fraud and theft. 158
registration 159
registration Paper documents serve as filaments that bind different elements of social and institutional reality in a way which leads to the creation of new types of value. A network of social relations is created by the network of cross-referenced and cross- attached documents. In this way, the registry of documents forms a mirror of the network of legal and property relationships. 160
Anchoring to reality 161
fingerprint official stamp photograph bar code cow brand-mark car license plate allow cross-referencing to documents Anchoring 162
The Mystery of Capital when you have legal title to your house you can use your house as an address for receiving public utility services such as mail and electricity buy insurance on your house use your house as collateral on a loan – your house allows you to live in it and at the same time use its value to build a factory
An ontological problem: what is a bank loan? On the one hand it is something like a mathematical structure. Yet its existence is tied to time and change. Plato would have regarded such a combination of properties as something impossible. (Cf. Mackie’s argument from metaphysical queerness) 164
– not a physical object taking part in causal relations – but a historical object, with a very special provenance, standing in relations analogous to those of ownership, existing only within a nexus of working financial institutions of specific kinds – something like an abstract key fitting into a global system of (institutional) locks What is a credit card number? 165
Austin, Searle et al. all mention that speech acts can be performed with documents (in French speech acts are called ‘actes du langage’) Is document act theory really something new? 166
Information Artifact Ontology information-artifact-ontology/ 167