Ontology

From Wikinfo

[[es:Ontolog�a]]

In philosophy, Ontology, the most fundamental branch of metaphysics, is the study of being or existence as well as the basic categories thereof. A being is anything that can be said to 'be' in various senses of the word 'be'. ie anything that exists. This is a Tautology. A related term is Entity. The verb to be has many different meanings and can therefore be rather ambiguous. Because "to be" has so many different meanings, there are, accordingly, many different ways of being.

Aristotle described Ontology as "the science of being qua being." The word 'qua' means 'with regard to the aspect of'. According to this theory, then, Ontology is the science of being with regard to the aspect of being, or the study of beings insofar as they exist. More precisely, Ontology concerns determining what categories of being are fundamental and asks whether, and in what sense, the items in those categories can be said to "be."

Contents 1 Ontology and Science 1.1 Quintessential Ontological Concepts 1.2 Examples of Ontological Questions 2 External Links 2.1 References

Ontology and Science

Different philosophers have made various lists of the fundamental categories of being throughout the centuries. One of the most basic ontological questions is: "What are the fundamental categories of being?" Before the rise of the sciences in the Western Renaissance, Ontology, taken with Metaphysics more generally, was the central focus of philosophical concern, because it directly related to the philosophy of religion and the supposed existence of God. Science directly challenged these connections, and slowly, Ontology was reduced to an historical curiosity. Representative ontological thought is found in Plato, Aristotle, Neoplatonism, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling.

In more modern and contemporary philosophy, Ontology was taken up by physicists who were already asking very similar questions using the scientific method. Ontology is being done today, though not under its ancient name, in many branches of Physics and the other sciences. Quantum mechanics, String theory, and quantum philosophy in general, are direct descendants of the ontological traditions, which naturally grew beyond the historical distinctions between universals and particulars, into questions of particle states, dimensions and probabilities. The basic ontological questions of the nature of existence are even more relevant to quantum mechanics, as notions of solid matter and distinct, separate existence of objects are challenged by new discoveries.

Quintessential Ontological Concepts

• The Problem of universals
• The Problem of substance
• The Question of Existence

Examples of Ontological Questions

• What is existence?
• What are physical objects?
• Is it possible to give an account of what it means to say that a physical object exists?
• What are an object's properties or relations and how are they related to the object itself?
• Is existence a property?
• When does an object go out of existence, as opposed to merely changing? According to science matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed and can only change it's form.

See also:

• computer science
• ontology (computer science).

In Software architecture, Marketing or Sales, ontological issues lie with Brand, Brand name and Product lines:

• ontological commitment
• ontological warfare

In Engineering or Software engineering:

• ontological commitment
• ontological distinction (computer science)
• ontology (computer science)
• cognitive ontology

External Links

[http://www.formalontology.it/being-qua-being.htm Aristotle's definition of a science of Being qua Being: ancient and modern interpretations]

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Ontology" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology, used under the GNU Free Documentation License