Questions tagged [ontology]
Ontology is the study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations.
820
questions
0
votes
3
answers
61
views
Can we paint or draw imaginary or nonexistent objects? [closed]
You know, imagainary objects are concepts and nonexistent objects don't have properties. I can't imagine drawing concepts (=imaginary objects) or nonexistent objects which we can't even see.
Can we ...
- 433
3
votes
2
answers
52
views
Chaos vs statistical mechanics vs complexity science
could someone shed some light on difference between chaos and complexity ?
What is the difference both ontological and epistemological between complexity science and statistical mechanics ?
- 1,107
10
votes
6
answers
2k
views
What is the definition of real?
What is the definition of the word "real"? For example, we can all agree that Harry Potter and unicorns are not real, while Mount Everest and Mars are real. Some people even say ...
- 5,456
3
votes
5
answers
218
views
Circularity in definition of Real
I'm having a hard time understanding the adjective 'real'.
In some sense, we get that x is real iff x is in reality. So to say that y is a real boy, is to say that y is a boy, and y is in the ...
- 203
0
votes
3
answers
66
views
Why do some philosphers including Russell paraphrase this sentence?
To say “Pegasus doesn’t exist” is to say “it is not the case that there is exactly one
x
which is a flying horse of Greek mythology”.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nonexistent-objects/
“Pegasus ...
- 433
-2
votes
1
answer
55
views
In what shape do opposites exist?
A common notion is that the opposite of “cold” is “warm” and that the opposite of “slow” is “fast”.
Would it be equally correct to say that the opposite of “cold” is “fast”?
How come that most people ...
4
votes
3
answers
203
views
Do philosophers analyze the term 'thing'?
'Thing' seems like a special word since it can be used to refer to almost anything. Is it an undefined term, or have philosophers tried to define it? If they haven't analyzed it, is there a similar ...
- 5,456
1
vote
3
answers
117
views
Is Bhaskar's argument, that epistemology and ontology are separate, correct?
Roy Bhaskar [1] is credited with developing a version of Critical Realism [2] with applications in the social sciences.
What is the meaning of Roy Bhaskar's notion of epistemic fallacy (as distinct ...
- 111
1
vote
5
answers
196
views
Is the hallucination hypothesis always the best explanation?
Suppose there are two persons A and B.
A attests to having witnessed some extraordinary event, e.g. A claims to have had an extraordinary religious experience with an other-worldly entity. Let's say ...
- 1,610
0
votes
1
answer
38
views
Is there a theory that if something doesn't exist, it isn't...?
In a casual sense, if ,for example, wind didn't exist, wind didn't blow my hair, wind didn't swing anything, wind didn't come into any place, etc.
Likewise, I think if something doesn't exist, it ...
- 433
1
vote
2
answers
79
views
Numbers and Time
This is my first post on philosophy stack exchange, so I apologize in advance if this question is not well-defined or if it happens to be a duplicate. If so, feel free to link the corresponding post(s)...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
62
views
How will you describe ontology of God?
I am trying to understand ontology. Suppose God exists then how will you describe the ontology of God?
(Several texts have been written in praise of God ,Allah etc … Those books gives some credence to ...
- 1,849
2
votes
5
answers
107
views
What's the difference between noneism and abstractionism?
I know what noneists and abstractionists say the difference is, I just don't grasp the difference. Noneism and abstractionism are two approaches to objects like numbers, fictional character, ...
- 7,396
2
votes
2
answers
110
views
Can only one object exist?
Suppose so, then: What exactly can distinguish it from not existing, if the object itself is all there is?
Any object trivially maps to itself via identity, so in order to deviate from the trivial ...
- 29
-3
votes
1
answer
210
views
Which mathematical operations leave the ontology invariant? [closed]
So usually one maps a math equation to an ontology in physics. Imagine me modelling a ball rolling up an inclined plane at an arbitrary angle. Now, the moment I make the inclined angle 90 degrees to ...
- 1,956
2
votes
5
answers
175
views
Can any part of existence be considered as information?
Can any part of existence be considered as information? I was thinking about it and anything that exist literally can be thought as information, but is there an exception to this rule? Is nothingness ...
- 3,837
1
vote
3
answers
681
views
Can location be assigned to an entity, given a lack of length, depth, or width?
If one is to postulate an entity that has a complete or absolute lack of height, depth, and width, can such an entity be located anywhere? Or does attribution of location to an entity entail length, ...
- 429
1
vote
0
answers
32
views
Can we evaluate life, existence and/or consciousness itself according to criteria that exist within it?
The idea of a criteria, of evaluation, of meaning, of assigning characteristics, of judging things as positive or negative or neutral, only exists as a subset of existence as far as I can tell. In ...
- 169
3
votes
2
answers
705
views
Is everything identical to itself, or merely every existing thing?
One of the properties of identity is that everything is identical to itself. But, does "everything" mean literally everything, or merely every thing that exists? For example, I don't think 1/...
- 5,456
2
votes
3
answers
220
views
What is 'an Ontological Evil'?
In various discussions touching upon topics between geopolitics, ethics, and general philosophy, I have seen the term used, in phrases such as 'please do not believe that members of [faction that both ...
- 171
2
votes
2
answers
132
views
Are ontologically reductive theories really that powerful?
There are numerous examples of ontological reduction, or elimination in the case of moral anti realism, the denial of the existence of a philosophical God (Russell's brute fact) and physicalism/...
- 161
13
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How many Platonic ideals are there?
Suppose you have an unripe banana that is yellow with a greenish tint. We could say that this banana partially embodies the platonic ideal of yellowness. We could also say that to a lesser degree it ...
- 331
1
vote
0
answers
83
views
Does existence consist of two categories?
The two categories I wish to describe is:
Eternal existence being uncaused and having always been
Short term existences such as human consciousness or other types which are destructible from their ...
- 29
2
votes
1
answer
59
views
Did Spinoza say "to name it is to limit it"?
I have seen this quote attributed second-hand and I wonder if anyone can document its source. Greatly appreciated.
- 21
0
votes
0
answers
54
views
Classical logic with a modified law of identity and its implications
Let's take the Law of Identity and change it to the Law of Identity with Overlapping Categories:
Would classical logic with the modified Law of Identity be completely different than classical logic. ...
- 3,837
1
vote
5
answers
1k
views
If nothing is preventing something from existing, must it exist?
The question in the title; if there is no existent precluding factor (whatsoever) for the existence of some x, must such a x exist?
- 429
1
vote
0
answers
61
views
Under what conditions can we say that two things are ontological distinct?
I am curious as to under what conditions we say that two things are ontologically distinct. My hunch is that we say two things are ontologically distinct if they differ in their essential properties. ...
- 676
0
votes
1
answer
116
views
Where is it that I go when I dream? Part 2
The body is often referred to by some as a "Temple". If it is a Temple, then to be awake is like standing outside of same during the day and to have a dream is like entering the foyer of it ...
- 97
1
vote
1
answer
94
views
Are all things the physical form/properties they have?
Trying to answer the question: "What are the things?"
I noticed that different things have different (physical) forms and that equal things have equal forms.
But what if it was a wrong ...
- 53
1
vote
0
answers
23
views
Does super-essentiality preclude compatibility with Anaxagoras?
On the one hand, God as superessential implies:
Part of God's divine nature is to be found in humans, and indeed all things
This seems to be consonant with the view of the cosmos held by Anaxagoras: ...
- 237
2
votes
1
answer
94
views
How would Heidegger criticize Descartes' melting candle analogy?
I've recently finished reading Being and Time and have attempted to supplement my understanding with different takes on the piece. One interesting angle that I've mused upon myself but haven't seen in ...
- 237
0
votes
0
answers
34
views
Thomism: Has any Thomist created an ontology of nouns?
English philosopher John Wilkins wrote a book outlining a universal language, and included in it was an outline of a noun classification system for classifying all objects (both physical and abstract) ...
- 423
1
vote
1
answer
51
views
Categorizing with metaphor, analogy, and symmetry
Continuing the discussion Categorizing with metaphor, analogy, generalization, and abstraction my next question is how two concepts metaphor/analogy equivalent to symmetry(change without change) .If ...
- 1,107
2
votes
1
answer
120
views
Categorizing with metaphor, analogy, generalization, and abstraction
Are two concepts metaphor/analogy equivalent to generalization/abstraction.
If yes how? Give me some examples
- 1,107
0
votes
0
answers
30
views
Does anyone know which source Anthony Kenny used for Parmenides in A History of Western Philosophy?
Reading his textbook, his extracts of Parmenides are much more readable than the other translations I've come across, but he only seems to source them by Diels-Kratz number!
In case anyone recognises ...
- 225
4
votes
3
answers
146
views
Positivism in search for truth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism
The notion that scientific theories must be tested experimentally is fundamental to the doctrine of positivism, which also requires that theories must always ...
- 1,107
2
votes
1
answer
96
views
If a statement and its negation are in-principle-indistinguishable empirically, can it mean anything at all?
There exists a category of syntactically valid declarative statements which appear intuitively like they are descriptions of reality - but which no possible measurement could distinguish from their ...
- 3,390
0
votes
0
answers
35
views
Are simulation based tests / experiments also just types of augmented hyper-reality?
Questions: Are simulation based-tests / experiments just types of augmented hyper-reality?
Background: What I mean here is that the types of tests / experiments here are simulation based so this is ...
- 1
1
vote
3
answers
85
views
Is there any speculative attempt at proposing something as fundamental as time, space and matter that may not exist in our current universe?
There is a category that groups time, space, and matter together. This category is called "substance" or "substantivalism." I am wondering if there are speculative ideas of ...
- 3,837
1
vote
1
answer
66
views
Reconciling Parmenides with the Kabbalist notion of Ein Sof
While contrasting the ontological systems of Parmenides and Kabbalists may seem arbitrary, I hope it will not be fruitless.
For now, I'm aiming to examine one specific concept: Ein Sof. As wiki puts ...
- 237
1
vote
1
answer
59
views
Question about equivalence and equality [closed]
What is it that equality and equivalence have in common, and how are they distinct.
Please give detailed answer
- 1,107
1
vote
4
answers
137
views
Does the Universe tend towards complexity/elegance?
So many of our scientific theories suggest that, from singularity or homogeneity, everything grows more and more complex. I say 'so many' here because I'm not speaking only about cosmology (and ...
- 11
0
votes
0
answers
34
views
Plato's forms - sparse realism and scope of forms
Was Plato a sparse realist about universals? (because "Carve nature at its joints")
And did he think everyday human made objects and social kinds had forms? eg tables
Thanks
- 77
0
votes
2
answers
67
views
Would a distinction between existenceₜᵣᵢᵥᵢₐₗ and existenceₙₒₙₜᵣᵢᵥᵢₐₗ diffuse Meinongianism and ontological arguments?
Or, really, any line of reasoning that seems to ideologically commit us to some sort of ontology that we have no clear-and-substantive relation with? This book from the Cambridge University Press ...
- 12.1k
4
votes
3
answers
144
views
Are the body parts of living beings, considered living beings?
Consider a living being, for example, us humans. The body of this living being is composed of various components such as heart, brain, kidney, etc. Now the question is whether these components ...
1
vote
1
answer
64
views
Neither Presentism nor Eternalism by Carlo Rovelli
The paper in question
Rovelli argues against both presentism and eternalism. Later he proposes third option in which the concept of "local present" is central.
The problem is I cannot ...
- 793
4
votes
3
answers
326
views
Under metaphysical naturalism, does everything boil down to Physics?
If metaphysical naturalism is true, would that mean that Physics is the ultimate discipline that can sufficiently explain everything, and that all other disciplines, including Chemistry, Biology, ...
- 1,610
5
votes
2
answers
108
views
What is character, and what role does it play in the decision making of an agent, according to proponents of libertarian free will?
I understand libertarian free will as an agent's ability to choose otherwise, or having more than one course of action available to them, when making a choice at time t, given a fixed past up to t. ...
- 1,610
0
votes
4
answers
264
views
Is it better to exist than not to exist?
Once we already exist we want to continue existing, but before we existed we did not care if we existed or not. So what is better? Is it better to bring new life into existence? And the more we bring, ...
- 37
3
votes
1
answer
138
views
How is asymmetry of metaphor an important part of object-oriented ontology?
I am reading Graham Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything. I'm finding it interesting and a lot of the ideas resonate, although I'm quite sure I don't completely understand it.
...
- 188