SBVR15 — Problems with denotation

From SBVR v1.3, clause 8.7:

term denotes thing

Definition: the thing is an instance of the concept that is represented by the term

thing has name

Definition: the thing is the instance of the individual noun concept that is represented by the name

Synonymous Form: name references thing

Note: A use of an individual noun concept by its name denotes the thing that is in the extension of the individual noun concept.

statement denotes state of affairs

Definition: the statement indicates the state of affairs that is posited by the proposition that is expressed by the statement

SBVR does not define ‘name’ at all. But, the UML diagram 8.12 shows ‘name’ as a category of ‘designation’, and the definition of ‘thing has name’ says that a ‘name’ represents a concept, which would make it a designation, and how it might differ from a term in that regard is not clear. In fact, the whole idea of a ‘name’ is that it denotes a thing, usually without regard to any concept, whereas a term designates a concept and indirectly denotes things.

But most of the vocabulary in 8.7 contradicts the notations on the semiotic triangle figure in 8.1.1. In the semiotic triangle, an ‘expression’ denotes a ‘thing’, but a ‘term’ is not an ‘expression’ in SBVR, and a ‘statement’ is not an expression in SBVR. All of that proceeds from the dual use of ‘designation’ in ISO 1087 to mean both “the state of designating” and “the thing that designates”. This needs to be fixed. A term must be an expression in order to denote a thing, and a statement must be an expression in order to denote a state of affairs.

SBVR has been changed since Issue was submitted to deal with all points.

see attached Wrod document