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Box 2.1: Entities of the world, concepts, and terms: a primer on
terminology and concept systems
We describe the world by means of language, with the aim of producing
shareable knowledge. This requires that terms in descriptions are understood
in the same way by all subjects involved in the communication, that is, there
is intersubjective agreement as to their meaning. It is then “useful for our
purposes to distinguish between concepts […] and the corresponding terms,
the verbal or symbolic expressions that stand for those concepts” (Hempel,
1966: p. 275) (a term is not constrained to be a single word: “measurement
uncertainty” is one term), where concepts are “units of knowledge” (ISO,
2000: 3.2.1) that in order to be communicated, processed, and stored require
a linguistic form. Hence a relation between language, knowledge, and the
world is involved:
• Knowledge is of the world: for example, the concept is
intended to be about actual measurement processes.
• Knowledge is managed by means of linguistic expressions: the concept
is written “measurement” in English and “mesurage” in
French.
• If knowledge is properly established and shared, then both the English
“measurement” and the French “mesurage” designate actual measurement
processes.
The relations between language, knowledge, and the world, and more specifically between terms, concepts, and entities in the world, are effectively
depicted in the so-called triangle of reference, or “semiotic triangle” (Ogden
& Richards, 1923), as in Fig. 2.1.
This model is so fundamental that, perhaps unsurprisingly, the related terminology is not standardized. For example, instead of “term, concept, entity
of the world”, Charles Ogden and Ivor Richards (1923) use “word, thought,
thing”, and Mario Bunge (1974: p. XI) uses “symbol, construct, fact”, whereas
ISO terminological standards (ISO, 2000, 2009) use “designation, concept,
object”.
Fig. 2.1 The semiotic triangle, in the generic case (left) and the specific case (middle),
with an example (right). (Adapted from Ogden & Richards, 1923: p. 11)
2 Fundamental concepts in measurement
Box 2.1: Entities of the world, concepts, and terms: a primer on
terminology and concept systems
We describe the world by means of language, with the aim of producing
shareable knowledge. This requires that terms in descriptions are understood
in the same way by all subjects involved in the communication, that is, there
is intersubjective agreement as to their meaning. It is then “useful for our
purposes to distinguish between concepts […] and the corresponding terms,
the verbal or symbolic expressions that stand for those concepts” (Hempel,
1966: p. 275) (a term is not constrained to be a single word: “measurement
uncertainty” is one term), where concepts are “units of knowledge” (ISO,
2000: 3.2.1) that in order to be communicated, processed, and stored require
a linguistic form. Hence a relation between language, knowledge, and the
world is involved:
• Knowledge is of the world: for example, the concept
intended to be about actual measurement processes.
• Knowledge is managed by means of linguistic expressions: the concept
French.
• If knowledge is properly established and shared, then both the English
“measurement” and the French “mesurage” designate actual measurement
processes.
The relations between language, knowledge, and the world, and more specifically between terms, concepts, and entities in the world, are effectively
depicted in the so-called triangle of reference, or “semiotic triangle” (Ogden
& Richards, 1923), as in Fig. 2.1.
This model is so fundamental that, perhaps unsurprisingly, the related terminology is not standardized. For example, instead of “term, concept, entity
of the world”, Charles Ogden and Ivor Richards (1923) use “word, thought,
thing”, and Mario Bunge (1974: p. XI) uses “symbol, construct, fact”, whereas
ISO terminological standards (ISO, 2000, 2009) use “designation, concept,
object”.
Fig. 2.1 The semiotic triangle, in the generic case (left) and the specific case (middle),
with an example (right). (Adapted from Ogden & Richards, 1923: p. 11)
2 Fundamental concepts in measurement