Name
Title | ||
|---|---|---|
Identification and Doing Without It, IV: A Formal Mathematical Analysis for the Feveroles Case, of Mix-Up of Kinds and Ensuing Litigation; and a Formalism for the "Cardiff Giant" Double Hoax |
Abstract | ||
|---|---|---|
Apart from the problem of misidentifying individual persons or individual items, a more general problem in classification is that of miscategorization, i.e., of assigning something given to the wrong kind. The misidentification of individuals can be viewed as a particular case of miscategorization, such that classification is with some singleton kind (i.e., the individual is one of a kind). Two cases are discussed and formalized (with somewhat different conventions). We exemplify situations of ambiguity in identifying an individual or a class of individuals. In the first example considered, a formalism is developed for representing the gist of a casenote in mercantile law, the Feveroles Case, in which a firm, upon receiving an order for feveroles, was misled by its own supplier into believing that 'feveroles' means 'horsebeans', and into ordering horsebeans and then supplying feves, a different, less valuable kind of horsebeans. Next, we proceed to more sketchily formalize aspects of a legal narrative from 19th-century America; namely, the facts that led to the suit against Barnum concerning his claims about the two competing exhibitions of the alleged Cardiff Giant. The verdict in court occurred without regard to which exhibit was the "real," original object so named (the one in possession of the plaintiff, or Barnum's), because intervening testimony made Barnum's claims against the competing exhibit unobjectionable. |
Year | DOI | Venue |
|---|---|---|
2003 | 10.1080/01969720302861 | CYBERNETICS AND SYSTEMS |
Keywords | Field | DocType |
mathematical analysis | Horsebeans,Computer science,Hoax,Narrative,Artificial intelligence,Formalism (philosophy),Singleton,Epistemology,Ambiguity,Machine learning | Journal |
Volume | Issue | ISSN |
34.0 | 6-7 | 0196-9722 |
Citations | PageRank | References |
10 | 0.52 | 4 |
Authors | ||
1 | ||
Name | Order | Citations | PageRank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ephraim Nissan | 1 | 164 | 21.59 |