Abstract
In the first part, we try to give a sufficiently precise definition of the concept of “structure” as a term that denotes abstract entities. Some examples are included. The second part is devoted to a short analysis of how the concept is used in different scientific areas, reaching from mathematics and physics to the humanities and computer science.
There has been a great deal of speculation in traditional philosophy which might have been avoided if the importance of structure, and the difficulty of getting behind it, had been realised.
Bertrand Russell
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
According to An etymological dictionary of the English language by Walter W. Skeat, Oxford 41910 [16].
- 2.
With a symmetric relation “is different from”, so the arrowhead is suppressed.
- 3.
“[…] the first definition, one generally employed, of the concept of structure: the presence of two terms and the relationship between them.” [7, p. 19].
- 4.
Picture taken from the “Königsberg”-article in wikipedia.de.
- 5.
Picture taken from: wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:NaCl-Ionengitter.png
- 6.
Original text: Le lecteur notera que les indications données dans ce paragraphe restent assez vague; elles ne sont là qu’à titre heuristique et il ne semble guère possible d’énoncer des définitions générales et précices concernant les structures, en dehors du cadre de la Mathématique formelle (voir Ens., chap. IV).
- 7.
The quotation is from the third edition (1871), p. 13.
- 8.
By Sneed (1971) [17], for example.
- 9.
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Department of Information Systems II and the Chair for Artificial Intelligence.
References
Althusser, L.: Eléments d’autocritique. Hachette, Paris (1974)
Bodendorf, F., Zimmermann, R.: Proactive supply-chain event management with agent technology. Int. J. Electron. Commerce 9(4), 58–89 (2005)
Boudon, R.: A qoui sert la notion de “Structure”? Essai sur la signification de la notion de structure dans les sciences humaines. Éditions Gallimard, Paris (1968), ( = vol. cxxxvi de la collection “Les Essais”)
Bourbaki, N.: Théorie des ensembles. Fascicule des resultats, Chapter 4. Hermann, Paris (1964)
Carnap, R.: Der logische Aufbau der Welt. Ullstein, Frankfurt/M., Berlin, Wien (1979); Chapter 1, 1928; Chapter 4, 1974, Text according to the unchanged Chapter 4, 1974 edition
Dieudonné, J.A.: Geschichte der Mathematik 1700–1900. Ein Abriß. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig/Wiesbaden (1985) (Original: Hermann, Paris, 1978, in two volumes entitled Abrégé d’histoire des mathématiques 1700–1900)
Greimas, A.-J.: Structural Semantics. An Attempt at a Method. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London (1983), with an introduction by Ronald Schleifer. Original: Sémantique structurale: Recherche de méthode, Paris (Larousse) 1966
Hertz, H.: Die Prinzipien der Mechanik in neuem Zusammenhange dargestellt. J.A. Barth, Leipzig (1894)
Hilbert, D.: Grundlagen der Geometrie. Teubner, Leipzig (1899)
Huber, A., Görz, G., Zimmermann, R., Käs, S., Butscher, R., Bodendorf, F.: Design and usage of an ontology for supply chain monitoring
Klein, F.: Vergleichende Betrachtungen über neuere geometrische Forschungen (1872). Reprint in Mathematische Annalen 43, 63–100, (1893) at http://www.DigiZeitschriften.de
Küppers, B.-O.: Elements of a semantic code. In: Evolution of Semantic Systems, pp. XX–YY. Springer, Berlin (2013)
Newton, I.: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. London (1678); vol. 3 (1871)
Russell, B.: Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, 2nd edn. George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., London; The MacMillan Co., New York (1920)
Scholz, H.: David Hilbert, der Altmeister der mathematischen Grundlagenforschung. In: Hermes, J.R.H., Kambartel, F. (eds.) Mathesis Universalis, Abhandlungen zur Philosophie als Strenger Wissenschaft, pp. 279–290. Benno Schwabe & Co., Basel/Stuttgart (1961)
Skeat, W.W.: An Etymological Dictionnary of the English Language, vol. 4. Clarendon, Oxford (1910)
Sneed, J.D.: The Logical Structure of Mathematical Physics. Reidel, Dordrecht (1971)
Uschold, M., King, M., Moralee, S., Zorgios, Y.: The enterprise ontology. At http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~entprise/enterprise/ontology.html (1995)
Volli, U.: Semiotik. Eine Einführung in ihre Grundbegriffe. A. Franke Verlag, Tübingen und Basel (2002), (Original edition as Manuale di semiotica, Rome 2000)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Inhetveen, R., Schiemann, B. (2013). Talking About Structures. In: Küppers, BO., Hahn, U., Artmann, S. (eds) Evolution of Semantic Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34997-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34997-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-34996-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-34997-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)