The theory of distributed conceptual structures, as outlined in this paper, is concerned with the distribution and conception of knowledge. It rests upon two related theories, Information Flow and Formal Concept Analysis, which it seeks to unify. Information Flow (IF) [2] is concerned with the distribution of knowledge. The foundations of Information Flow are explicitly based upon the Chu Construction in *-autonomous categories [1] and implicitly based upon the mathematics of closed categories [6]. Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) [3] is concerned with the conception and analysis of knowledge. In this paper, we connect these two studies by categorizing the basic theorem of Formal Concept Analysis, thus extending it to the distributed realm of Information Flow. The main result is the representation of the basic theorem as a categorical equivalence at three different levels of functional and relational constructs. This representation accomplishes a rapprochement between Information Flow and Formal Concept Analysis.
['Robert E. Kent']
Distributed conceptual structures