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.
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If there was something else that's as fundamental other than time or space in a different universe, dimension, would we be able to conceptualize it? [closed]
If there was something else that's as fundamental other than time or space in a different universe, dimension, would we be able to conceptualize it?
Because language can only refer to something we've ...
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Is there a resource cataloguing unique and fundamental concepts cross-culturally?
I am working on a "conlang", which is basically a fantasy language. I have collected 4,000-ish words in their "base" form (some we still need to find the base for, but they can be ...
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Is there a logical reason to default to a certain type of first cause?
While there are some exceptions, physics generally holds that the universe has a beginning.
Assuming that there is a first cause of the universe, what are the logical based reasons for preferring ...
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Are we still in God's mind?
I would like to share a reasoning.
We consider that an Engineer, before starting to build his project, draws up a construction plan.
In the case of a Deity that promises eternal life in paradise, we ...
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Why does a hypothesis not self-defeat under fallacy of the gaps?
I was listening to an atheism-vs-theism debate on YouTube, and the two debaters came to a disagreement when talking about God of the Gaps.
Person A: "If we look at all the evidence, we can see ...
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Why did Berkeley denounce 'abstract' ideas?
George Berkeley- Berkeley is best known for his early works on vision (An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, 1709) and metaphysics (A Treatise concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, 1710; ...
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How did Bertrand Russell distinguish between being and existence?
In his book, "Principles of Mathematics", Russell makes the following claim:
Being is that which belongs to every conceivable term, to every possible object, of thought-in short to everything that ...
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Does Bostrom's simulation argument make sense?
Bostrom has famously argued that we live in a simulation. One of his key assumptions is that other civilizations exist that can simulate us. Why do we make this assumption?
Why assume that other ...
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Questions on non-ontology
Ontology is one of the best known and most important branches of metaphysics - the study of "things", of "beings", or of "what there is" (in oppose to what "there isn't").
I have a few questions ...
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Should it be the String Hypothesis rather than String Theory?
The question here is what is signified by the lexical token 'theory' in String Theory.
It's something of a rhetorical question because it is, I think, used in a special sense by physicists; for ...
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Ontology: How do ideas exist?
There are several ways of looking at ideas.
There is a platonic way of looking at ideas which sees the ideas as kind eternal entities. Augustine puts these ideas in the mind of God. In either case ...
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Can an infinite be undifferentiated?
Starting in amthematics:
The infinite in mathematics must be differentiated: we have the sequence - 0,1,2,3...; where each number is distinct. The same goes for infinite ordinals and cardinals.
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Qs about interpretations on Parmenides's claim
Parmenides's classic claim is that what does not exist cannot be thought about. (It has been read as a claim that every truth-bearer must have a truth-maker, since otherwise the truth-bearer is not ...
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Whn Badiou asserts that mathematics is Ontology what does he mean by Ontology?
Badious oeuvre can be succintly phrased in his slogan: mathematic is ontology.
Mathematics I understand. So the question really is the other part of his slogan. I take his 'is' to be normal and ...
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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)...
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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 ...
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How many isolated concept clusters are there?
Let me start by explaining what I mean by an isolated concept cluster. It is often remarked that you can't define any moral term without using other moral terms. For example, you can define obligation ...
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Physical location of abstract objects
I was reading about the idea of a specific colour as an abstract object as defined by Plato, and how in 'Parmenides' he struggled with the fact that the type cannot be single and exist in multiple ...
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Philosophy of information question on the nature of computation
What is the most general definition of computation, and how does it differ from the more common definitions of it?
What is the most general definition of computation and how does it differ from the ...
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How does Epictetus define personhood?
In the Enchiridion, Epictetus says:
“Our master is anyone who has the power to implement or prevent the things that we want or don’t want. Whoever wants to be free, therefore, should wish for nothing ...
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In What Sense is Substance Epistemically Prior?
In Metaphysics Z (1028a32), Aristotle outlines different senses in which a substance can be considered to be "first":
there are several senses in which a thing is said to be first; yet substance is ...
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Conceptual distinction between " strength" , " force" and " power"?
Philosophers distinguish between 2 kinds of " powers": moral powers ( authority, right to order something) which corresponds to potestas in Latin and " physical power" ( ability to do something, or to ...
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Ontology in the Nietzschean framework
Would you say that Nietzsche held any regard to the ontological question in his work? I know more or less his account on metaphysics, he seem to push the question aside as he considers it does not fit ...
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Does anyone consider Being a primitive, unanalyzable, term?
Does anyone say that Being is a primitive, unanalyzable, term?
That probably would make Being and Time the greatest work of nonsense of all time. I certainly feel able to imagine that Being is ...
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Ontology : being and kinds of being [closed]
Can we study being without making reference to kinds of being or the being of entities ? Can we identify pure being? Heidegger apparently thought we could and should. Did he really think this ? If so,...
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Monads, souls and rational souls
Leibniz defines monads as simple substances with no parts (Monadology, 1).
Later on, we learn that some of those are souls which have memory (Monadology 19) and further others are rational souls ...
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What would be the correct abstraction for Thing and Action?
In an hierargical ontology definition I'm stating that: Artist <= Person <= Human <= Mamal <= Thing or Phone <= Product <= Thing. I could also do the same for Walking <= Moving &...
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Is Reality an intersection of Incompatible Ontologies?
Empiricists do not ask questions about the ontological status of mathematical or logical structures. Idealists don't explain how Ideas are developed, or how technological advancement in general takes ...
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Absolutes within modern philosophy
Are there any philosophies still claiming the existence of Absolute entities? By Absolute, I mean permanent and independent of cause and effect, such as Plato's One or Forms in general.
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Could someone help me out with Quine's theory of ontological commitment?
I'm kind of struggling with this. My prof gave an example of the problem of whether or not holes exist.
In the case of a colander, a realist about holes could say that a colander is metal that has ...
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What is property?
Suppose , I have two objects A and B. A has a set of properties P and B has a set of properties Q. It is possible that when I combine A and B the combination has a property c that is neither in P nor ...
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Language to describe that which is most fundamentally real
I'm trying to articulate my perception of reality for a blog post. Core to the clarity of this post is that it successfully transmit a certain very deep and abstract notion. I struggle to convey this ...
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Can a tool use itself?
I ask this question with connections to consciousness. It seems neuroscience has hit a plateau in explaining it materially since the smallest element of consciousness in the material brain seems to be ...
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What type of questions can we ask? (When, where etc)
About the question So, by 'type of questions', I really mean this from an ontological perspective. I imagine there is a complete set of (type of) questions, and thus any question that ever was or will ...
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Does Aristotle have anything to say about the interpretative paradoxes of QM?
This follows this question
The same question, angled a little differently suggests a family resemblence with the measurement paradox in QM:
First and most broadly, QM is standardly said to have an ...
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Must existence be a property, for bundle theory to work?
Kant argued that existence isn't a predicate; and presumably a similar argument would show that it is neither a property.
But if ontologically we believe all that there is are bundles of properties; ...
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Which scholars argue that for art to be art, it must be for art's sake?
I understand this is partially supported by Nietzsche, but do others agree or adamantly disagree with this position? If so who?
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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.
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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 ...
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What do materialists mean by 'material' ? Is it matter ? Is it energy ? What is our evidence for its existence? [closed]
Overview of relevant material views.
Evidence for existence of this material.
Role of the observer.
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Do models of Cartesian closed logic physically exist?
Cartesian closed logics, also known as simple type theories or simply-typed lambda calculi, are ubiquitous; we use sentential logic (WP, nLab) all the time in philosophy and law, and doxastic logic to ...
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Ontology over time
Looking for any recommended references for this topic, I was recommended a good book on logic previously on here, and found it extremely enlightening, mainly how we deal with issues like the ship of ...
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Is a complex eternal first cause less likely than a simple eternal first cause?
I have seen this argument posed by people like Dawkins et. al, but is this actually true? Many have pointed to how complex things in nature generally come from simpler origins, but clearly, this isn't ...
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Could I (or something like my mind) exist because more complicated (mental) products than me exist?
Starting with a Cartesian-type 'cogito' argument, we might be sceptical that an 'I' exists, but rather suppose that we're embedded in a kind of perceptive process allowing us to experience thoughts, ...
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Physical vs abstract collections
In mathematics we deal with 'sets' they are abstract as the objects in them are abstract, they have no tempo-spatial location. How about standard 'collections' we would encounter in real life, if I ...
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Is Ontological Parsimony true when it comes to fundamental reality?
When people talk about ontological parsimony, it is generally used to add or subtract credibility from a theory about what exists 'within' the universe or multiverse. For example, it's used to discuss ...
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Discerning between a number 'x' as a Natural or Real number
The usual way of teaching is to explain the numbers that are element of the reals and naturals as being the same, this was a perfectly valid way of understanding for me, why do some consider '2' as an ...
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Applying logic to the question of whether all of existence is infinite or not
Here, I use to exist as generally as possible; if it is an object, it exists; if it is conceivable, it exists; if it is anything, it exists; even the properties and relations themselves exist. ...
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