Abstract vs. social roles – Towards a general theoretical account of roles

Abstract

For decades, roles have been discussed and applied in different ways in various fields of computer science, but apparently no consensus on their understanding is available. Thus, role terms like “patient”, “runner”, or “factor” qualify for further investigation, which aims at covering and generalizing recurrent understandings and uses of roles. The generality of roles suggests their inclusion in top-level ontologies. This paper extends and refines analyses of roles for the top-level ontology General Formal Ontology (GFO). The primary foundation of this account comprises the notions of role, player, and context and their interrelations, associated with situations of, for instance, some human who plays a patient role in a hospital context. Further, a classification of roles is introduced, which at top distinguishes two role types: abstract roles, providing a means of viewing something in a context, and social roles, which are complex social objects in vaguely defined contexts. These types are mixed in the literature, and their differences restrict the theory common to all roles. Based on this framework, the paper discusses controversial issues of roles, demonstrating the expressiveness of the overall account, which allows for fine-grained distinctions and the integration of prior work.