A framework for commensurability

The preceding chapter developed an implied theoretical approach to the question of the commensurability of knowledge systems, one based around the direct commitments expressed in the systems themselves, and of the indirect and inferred commitments of the cultures responsible for them. This chapter formalises and makes explicit that approach, by developing a model for assessing the commensurability of knowledge systems. In constructing a framework for assessing commensurability of ontologies, this chapter cements several levels of argument expressed in this book together. It presents, first, a speculative theoretical model of what it is that is being investigated in a commensurability assessment—what sort of entity underpins a formal knowledge system. Then the framework itself, designed to profile and explore differences in these systems, is described. The framework comprises a) a model of an idealised commensurability situation, where two systems are to be aligned; b) a series of dimensions for evaluating the cultures responsible for those systems; c) a quantification of the assessment; and d) a procedure for applying the dimensions and interpreting the results. Collectively these tools form part of what could be considered an analyst’s toolkit for evaluating the degree of fit between two knowledge systems. This chapter, then, offers one possible practical approach for working within the social web of knowledge.