[sc34wg3] SAM-issue psi-generics (was: SAM-issue term-scope-def)

[Marc de Graauw]

* Marc de Graauw
| [Lars Marius Garshol]
| > Yes, but instanceOf assignment is a statement about the subject
| > represented by the topic, not about the topic. (Just as with all other
| > characteristic assignments.)
|
| You are right.
|
| Marc

I have defended the view that topic characteristic assignments are statements
about a subject, not a topic. I found however this leads to a contradiction. SAM
says:

"Any topic characteristic assignment is a statement about the subject the topic
represents."

and:

"Note that one topic cannot reify another. If a topic refers to another by means
of its subject identifiers this means that the two topics represent the same
subject, and they will therefore be merged."

SAM also says:

"In the most generic sense, a subject is anything whatsoever, regardless of
whether it exists or has any other specific characteristics, about which
anything whatsoever may be asserted by any means whatsoever."

If topics cannot be reified, and the characteristics of topics are assertions
about a subject, not a topic, it follows that nothing can be asserted about a
topic (at least not in a topic map), which is very strange indeed. We can speak
about everything in the world, except about topics! If however topic
characteristic assigments are assertions about the topic, it is of course quite
possible to say things about the topic (in fact, you always do).

I don't think we need to start the entire discussion again, but I couldn't keep
this to myself.

Marc