agent role

IRI: https://spec.industrialontologies.org/ontology/construct/AgentRole

Defined In: https://spec.industrialontologies.org/ontology/core/Core/

SubClass Of: bfo:role

Class Hierarchy

owl:Thing › bfo:entity › bfo:continuant › bfo:specifically dependent continuant › bfo:realizable entity › bfo:role › agent role

Direct subclasses:

Definition

role that someone or something has when they act on behalf of a person, engineered system or a group of agents

Explanatory Notes

1.The IOF has elected to exclude material substances that may, at times, act like or are often referred to as agents, in that they realize some specific function that some person desires (e.g., platinum is a reducing agent in various reduction-type reactions – as used in a catalytic converter to eliminate or reduce various pollutants in exhausts).

  1. The IOF has at this time excluded other types of non-human agents, such as animals and other organisms (often referred to as biological agents).

  2. in case the ‘material entity’ is an engineered system or group of agents or person acting on behalf of oneself is also allowed

Examples

  • a person has an employee role when he/she acts on behalf of the business organization that employs them

Counter-Examples

Other types of agents we are not including at this stage are:

  1. Those that are physical and chemical in nature: Cleaning, vulcanizing, fluxing, indicator, sterilizing, emulisifying, refining.

  2. Organisms: animals, cells, parts of organisms (organs, organelles, viruses).

  3. In computing: intelligent, artificial, mobile, & autonomous

Adapted From

  • http://www.ontologyrepository.com/CommonCoreOntologies/Mid/AgentOntology

Primitive Class

This class is declared primitive and it does not have necessary and sufficient condiftions defined.

Primitive Rationale

This term is expected to remain primitive. While ‘acting on behalf of at some time’ captures the essence of being an agent, the realization of the agent role is expected to have too generic of a scope to define a sufficient condition that would not cause conflict (overlap) with the realization of other roles, which can in turn lead to reasoner errors when a specific entity bears multiple roles simoultaneously. Also, no further conditions specific to the role and not to the bearer of the role have been created thus far.

Formal Axioms

First-Order Logic Axioms 

AgentRole(x) → Role(x) ∧ ∃n∃m((MaterialEntity(m) ∧ ¬FiatObjectPart(x)) ∧ roleOf(x,m) ∧ (Person(n) ∨ GroupOfAgents(n) ∨ EngineeredSystem(n)) ∧ actsOnBehalfOfAtSomeTime(m, n))

Semi-Formal Natural Language Axioms

if x is an ‘agent role’ x then x is a ‘role’ that is the ‘role of’ some ‘material entity’ (that is not a ‘fiat object part’) when it ‘acts on behalf of at some time’ some ‘person’ or ‘group of agents’ or ‘engineered system’

Description Logic

constr:AgentRole ⊑ bfo:role

constr:AgentRole ⊑ ∃ constr:roleOf .((bfo:material_entity ⊓ ¬ bfo:fiat_object_part) ⊓ ∃ constr:actsOnBehalfOfAtSomeTime .(constr:EngineeredSystem ⊔ constr:GroupOfAgents ⊔ constr:Person))

SubClassOf: bfo:role

SubClassOf: constr:roleOf some ((bfo:material_entity and not bfo:fiat_object_part) and constr:actsOnBehalfOfAtSomeTime some (constr:EngineeredSystem or constr:GroupOfAgents or constr:Person))