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#$Agent   agents
The collection of #$Agent-Generics (q.v.) that are not tangible artifacts (cf. #$AgentiveArtifact). #$Agent includes all naturally-occurring agents (e.g. #$Persons and #$Animals), any #$SupernaturalBeings (q.v.), and #$Organizations.
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direct instance of: #$ExistingObjectType
direct specialization of: #$Agent-Generic  #$CompositeTangibleAndIntangibleObject  
direct generalization of: #$GeographicalAgent #$PerceptualAgent #$SocialBeing #$Animal
#$IndividualAgent   individuals
An instance of #$ExistingObjectType and a specialization of #$Agent-Generic. Each instance of #$IndividualAgent is an instance of #$Agent-Generic that is not itself a group composed of other instances of #$Agent-Generic. Notable specializations of #$IndividualAgent include #$Person and #$Animal. Note that #$Organization is not a specialization of #$IndividualAgent, since instances of #$Organization are groups composed of other instances of #$Agent-Generic.
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direct instance of: #$ExistingObjectType
direct specialization of: #$Agent-Generic  
direct generalization of: #$PerceptualAgent #$Cyclist #$DivineBeing #$SupernaturalBeing
#$IntelligentAgent   intelligent agents    **COMMENT NOT REVIEWED**    **GAFs NOT REVIEWED**
A specialization of #$Agent-Generic (q.v.) whose instances are all (non-artifactual) agents capable of knowing and acting, and of employing their knowledge in their actions. An intelligent agent #$knowsAbout certain things, and having #$beliefs (and possibly #$goals) concerning those things may influence its actions. As with agents generally, an intelligent agent might be a single individual or might consist of a group of individual agents (see #$MultiIndividualAgent). Thus persons are intelligent agents, and so are certain social beings like business and government organizations. Some non-human instances of #$Vertebrate that seem to be sentient and somewhat intelligent, such as (arguably) dogs and horses, can also be considered intelligent agents. Note that a genuinely intelligent machine (if or when such a thing exists) would be an #$AgentiveArtifact (q.v.), and thus _not_ an #$IntelligentAgent, as these two collections are disjoint.
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direct instance of: #$ExistingObjectType
direct specialization of: #$Agent-Generic  
direct generalization of: #$SocialBeing #$Listless #$Relaxed #$Satisfied #$Excited #$Grateful #$Shameful #$Lonely #$Contemptuous #$Fearful #$SelfConfident #$Proud #$Happy #$Nervous #$Resentful #$Surprised #$Restless #$Disgusted #$Dissatisfied #$Sad #$Hopeful #$Hostile #$DivineBeing #$Leader #$SupernaturalBeing
#$PerceptualAgent   perceptual agents
The collection of all sentient agents. Instances of #$PerceptualAgent are #$IndividualAgents (q.v.) capable of performing acts of #$Perceiving (q.v.). In many cases information that a perceptual agent gathers through perceiving can influence certain other of the agent's actions.
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direct instance of: #$ExistingObjectType
direct specialization of: #$Agent  #$IndividualAgent  
direct generalization of: #$Animal
#$SocialBeing   social agents    **COMMENT NOT REVIEWED**    **GAFs NOT REVIEWED**
The specialization of #$IntelligentAgent whose instances are beings whose existence is acknowledged within some social system. (Thus, the extent of #$SocialBeing will vary with the social context.) Social beings are able to perform social roles in the systems that recognize them. Some notable specializations of #$SocialBeing are #$Person, #$LegalAgent, and #$Organization.
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direct instance of: #$ExistingObjectType
direct specialization of: #$Agent  #$IntelligentAgent  
direct generalization of: #$MedicalCareProvider #$LegalAgent #$JudicialAgent #$MedicalPatient #$Organization
#$LegalAgent   legal agents    **COMMENT NOT REVIEWED**    **GAFs NOT REVIEWED**
A specialization of #$Agent. Each instance of #$LegalAgent is an agent who has some status in a particular legal system. At the very least, such an agent is recognized by some legal authority as having some kinds of rights and/or responsibilities as an agent (e.g., #$citizens of Germany), or as being subject to certain restrictions and penalties (e.g., a company that has been blacklisted by Iraq). Thus, instances of #$LegalAgent include agents that may have property rights, may be taxed, may have a government identification number, may be sued, may have an address, or may buy or sell. Note that membership in this collection is very much dependent upon context. In some societies, only adult males and various kinds of state-run organizations would be included in #$LegalAgent.
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direct instance of: #$ExistingObjectType
direct specialization of: #$SocialBeing  
direct generalization of: #$Person #$InternationalOrganization #$Vendor #$LegalGovernmentOrganization #$LawEnforcementOrganization #$LegalCorporation #$CommercialOrganization #$GeopoliticalEntity
#$Organization   organizations (groups of people acting together)
The collection of all organizations. Each instance of #$Organization is a group whose group-members are instances of #$IntelligentAgent. In each instance of #$Organization, certain relationships and obligations exist between the members of the organization, or between the organization and its members. Instances of #$Organization include both informal and legally constituted organizations. Each instance of #$Organization can undertake projects, enter into agreements, own property, and do other tasks characteristic of agents; consequently, #$Organization is a specialization of the collection #$Agent. Notable specializations of #$Organization include #$LegalGovernmentOrganization, #$CommercialOrganization, and #$GeopoliticalEntity.
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direct instance of: #$ExistingObjectType
direct specialization of: #$SocialBeing  #$Artifact-Generic  #$MultiIndividualAgent  #$InanimateThing-NonNatural  
direct generalization of: #$OrganizationWithIndividualClients #$OrganizationWithBusinessClients #$ConstructionRepairOrMaintenanceOrganization #$FoodAndBeverageOrganization #$InsuranceOrganization #$TransportationOrganization #$TravelOrganization #$GovernmentAgency #$Partnership #$IndependentOrganization #$AirportOrganization #$SoleProprietorship #$OrganizationWithBusinessCustomers #$OrganizationWithIndividualCustomers #$FinancialOrganization #$Court-Judicial #$MilitaryOrganization #$HealthcareOrganization #$AdvocacyOrganization #$PrivateSectorOrganization #$GovernmentalOrganization #$ServiceOrganization #$ContactPointSubOrganization #$ActivityTypeFocusGroup #$EntertainmentOrRecreationOrganization #$EducationalOrganization #$ManufacturingOrganization #$ResearchOrganization #$NationalOrganization #$InternationalOrganization #$PoliticalOrganization #$ReligiousOrganization #$LocalOrganization #$LawEnforcementOrganization #$NonProfitOrganization #$LegalCorporation #$CommercialOrganization #$SellingOrganization #$SingleSiteOrganization #$OrganizationOfPeopleOnly #$GeopoliticalEntity
#$Person   people (primates)
The collection of all human beings. Something is an instance of #$Person just in case it is a member of the species Homo Sapiens, and thus #$Person is an instance of #$BiologicalSpecies in the #$BiologyMt. Persons are the most intelligent kind of #$Primate, and the only kind known to be naturally capable of speaking a language. #$Person excludes non-human legal persons, who are, however, included in the collection #$LegalAgent.
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direct instance of: #$BiologicalSpecies
direct specialization of: #$Omnivore  #$LegalAgent  #$HumanOccupationConstructResident  #$HomoGenus  
direct generalization of: #$UnemployedPerson #$PersonWithOccupation #$Student #$Athlete #$HumanAdult #$MalePerson #$FemalePerson #$HumanChild #$UnitedStatesPerson #$Leader
#$PersonWithOccupation   professionals (people)
The collection of persons who have a (skilled or unskilled) occupation. Most (but not all) instances of #$PersonWithOccupation spend a significant part of their waking hours doing activities that are characteristic of their occupations. Typically their actions are performed for pay (but not always: consider a starving artist who is unable to sell any of her works). Note that a #$PersonWithOccupation need not be working over the entire duration of when s/he has an occupation; e.g. college professors on summer break and the temporarily unemployed still have occupations. Most reified specializations of #$PersonWithOccupation classify workers according to their job titles, the kinds of work they perform, or the skills involved; while a few exploit other (usually quite broad) features of their working lives (e.g. #$SelfEmployedWorker and #$DeskWorker). But note that many collections corresponding to what are colloquially considered professions or occupations (e.g. #$Lifeguard, #$StockBroker, #$Housekeeper, and many others) are _not_ specializations of #$PersonWithOccupation, as those collections include people for whom the work in question is not their occupation.
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direct instance of: #$ExistingObjectType
direct specialization of: #$Person  
direct generalization of: #$OrganizationRepresentative #$SalesPerson #$Farmer #$FoodProfessional #$Consultant #$Executive #$Researcher #$MedicalCareProfessional #$BusinessPerson #$LawEnforcementOfficer #$President-HeadOfGovernmentOrHeadOfState #$SelfEmployedWorker #$EntertainmentOrArtsProfessional #$Scientist #$DeskWorker #$LegalProfessional #$PrivateSectorEmployee #$Engineer #$AcademicProfessional #$BlueCollarWorker #$Employee

A Hierarchical View Of Agent And Its Subsets

Agent hierarchy graph


Copyright© 1996-2002. All rights reserved. See Terms of Usage.