[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: Namespaces, schemas, and scholasticism (was RE: Namespaces,sch emas
As any reasonable spiritual philosophy and half decent sci-fi/fantasy book will tell you, a "name" is a very powerful thing. Just (re)read George Orwell's "1984" if you don't believe me. Since this conversation is all about names I don't think we're quite to the point of counting angels. Not yet, anyway. ;-) Thanks, Peter ----- Original Message ----- From: "Champion, Mike" <Mike.Champion@S...> To: <xml-dev@l...> Sent: Friday, August 24, 2001 10:02 PM Subject: Namespaces, schemas, and scholasticism (was RE: Namespaces, sch emas, Simon's filters.) > > > > > > >Right or wrong, that's what the spec says. So either XML > > Schema is wrong, or XML Namespaces is wrong. > > > > No, it's just that the term "element type" as used in the namespaces > > spec does not mean the same as the type of an element in the XML > > Schema sense. > > > > I've been trying to remember what this thread reminds me of ... then it > occurred to me: Medieval theology. > > >From http://www.encyclopedia.com/printablenew/11569.html > > "scholasticism, philosophy and theology of Western Christendom in the Middle > Ages.The beginning of scholasticism can be identified in the methods used by > civil and canon lawyers of the 11th and 12th cent. to reconcile seemingly > contradictory statements." > > from http://members.aol.com/Philosdog/Scholasticism.html > > "The disputes [the Scholastics] entered into often seem like pedantic > hairsplitting, futile word games, or even downright incomprehensible > nonsense to most everyone today. Scholasticism thus has a deservedly "bad > name", and has been continuously and justly ridiculed ever since Rabelais > first did so in the > 1500's. One of the favorite things to ridicule is the supposed debate among > the > Scholastics on the question of "How many angels can dance on the head of a > pin?"... > > And in fact, some of the Scholastics, such as Aquinas, did dance quite > close to the precise question, as this little taste from his "Summa > Theologiae" shows: > Q. 52, a. 3 - "Whether Several Angels Can Be At The Same Time In the > Same Place? There are not two angels in the same place. The reason > for this is because it is impossible for two complete causes to be > immediately the causes of one and the same thing. This is evident in > every class of causes. For there is one proximate form of one thing, > and there is one proximate mover, although there may be several remote > movers. Nor can it be objected that several individuals may row a boat, > since no one of them is a perfect mover, because no one man's strength > is sufficient for moving the boat; the fact is rather that all together > are as one mover, in so far as their united powers all combine in > producing the one movement. Hence, since the angel is said to be in one > place by the fact that his power touches the place immediately by way > of a perfect container, as was said (Q. 52, a. 1) there can be but one > angel in one place." " > > > > And guess who drove the last nail into the coffin of Scholasticism? Our old > friend William of Occam, they guy whose philosophy of minimalism is > enshrined as "Occam's Razor", and who some credit with setting the stage for > the Renaissance by separating questions of faith from issues that can be > addressed by reason. > > Perhaps there's a message for the XML world here ... > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > The xml-dev list is sponsored by XML.org <http://www.xml.org>, an > initiative of OASIS <http://www.oasis-open.org> > > The list archives are at http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/ > > To subscribe or unsubscribe from this elist use the subscription > manager: <http://lists.xml.org/ob/adm.pl> > >
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