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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Can 'collections' be 'objects'?
Most things we call 'objects' are generally made up of other 'objects' can we consider a collection, such as a physical collection of objects as an 'object' itself?
If we have a 'collection' or an ...
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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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Drawing a distinction between a 'type', the set of it's tokens
If we take an abstract 'type' like 'man', this type sort of defines the required characteristics to be 'a man', however what is the difference between the type 'man' and the group/set of 'men'?
For ...
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Is Heidegger's "Being" a class template or a random variable taking realizations?
I have a fairly strong background in math and programming as it is my daily work. I have recently started getting interested in philosophy and often has the habit of drawing analogy between ...
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Given a positive ontological claim X, is not-X the default position?
Given a positive ontological claim X, I see at least four different subjective positions one could adopt regarding X:
I believe that the evidence provides persuasive reason to believe that X is true (...
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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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What is an object's properties?
What can we consider an object's properties, for example, when can we consider an object's properties as 'changing'? For example, if I move an object from my desk to my table, has it changed? If I ...
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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 reality a matter of perspective?
Imagine a world like the movie The Matrix where everything people experience is controlled by a massive computer. Let us assume that in this virtual world, there are ogres but no gorillas. Consider ...
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Abstract objects and changing properties
I like to use This website to explain some of the simple ways of mathematical thinking, but in the linked article by Wells, he gives his ideas on how mathematical objects are inert, but in this he ...
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What do we explictly refer to in mathematical expressios
My friend has a theory about 'instantiation' of numbers, they believe that every time we think of a number we create an 'instance' of it in our own heads, it's the same idea, but each time we think, ...
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How do essentialists deal with fuzzy essential properties?
I've been reading a collection of essays on neo-Aristotelianism where they endorse the concept of essential properties. An essential property is an ontological concept, not a conceptual concept. The ...
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Why should we care about the Platonism vs. nominalism debate?
I understand the debate to be about whether abstract concepts actually "exist". As such, it is clearly an important question for ontology.
However, I fail to see any practical reason to care ...
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Are the concept of time and space apriori to natural language or are they just references within natural language?
Are the concept of time and space apriori to natural language or are they just references within natural language? Time and space are fundamental concepts to existence and ontology. Natural languages ...
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Normative philosophy vs descriptive philosophy
I am making the question in simple terms to avoid logical ambiguity.
IS normative philosophy(what should be) a subset of descriptive philosophy (What is) ?
Is morality/ethics beauty/happiness is also ...
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How can I unambiguously differentiate between universals and particulars?
I am posting this question here as the question is philosophical at its core, but is connected to formal ontologies (e.g. DOLCE) used in computation. My background is more in computation than ...
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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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Can concrete objects have multiple occurrences?
I was reading SEP article on types and tokens, and got interested in the concept of 'occurrence'. We would describe the fact that the number '2' appears multiple times in an expression as an example ...
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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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How to understand Prime matter?
In the Aristotle-Aquinas tradition prime matter is the thing that underlies all other things in the world. It is described as completely indeterminate-pure potentiality, it was not created and cannot ...
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Loops in logic and reasoning
While studying science I have come across many times loops in logic.for example in survival of the fittest who is fit~who survives and who survives~who is fit.
My question is how to deal with these ...
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Are numbers particulars?
I've often seen numbers be called 'abstract particulars' but as explored in a few of the following questions and answers that I will list, they seem to have the ability to be 'instantiated', does this ...
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Is this definition a necessary or possible (contingent) truth?
Sorry for not having much context but taking Pegasus to be the mythological beast from greek mythology.
"To be Pegasus is to be capable of flying."
Is this definition an necessary truth or a ...
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Is finding data to fit a hypothesis unscientific? [closed]
It seems to me that many people find observations/data in order to fit the hypothesis or to prove the conclusion of their arguments. In one example, one might regard taking a set of lab data and going ...
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What makes Dasgupta's Algebraic Generalism "Algebraic"? [closed]
Dasgupta refers to his particular form of structuralism as "algebraic generalism." Why, precisely, is it referred to as algebraic?
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Are the A and B theories of time meant to describe actual/ontic/physical reality?
I know this question has been asked many times before but I'm honestly not capable of fully understanding all the many answers that have been given for questions like this. Basically I'm wondering ...
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Are theories about the universe or ontological realities that cannot be yet proven considered to be metaphysics theory?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Metaphysical_theories
Are theories about the universe or ontological realities that cannot be yet proven considered to be metaphysics theory?
I was wondering why ...
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More about the relations between properties of parts and their wholes?
Hi I'm trying to discover any metaphysical necessities that connect the properties of a whole and the properties of its parts. I know the properties of the whole can be different than the properties ...
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Is Egoism of Max Stirner idealization of Free consciousness?
In more simple language when Stirner talks about having no fix ideas or not treating ideas as sacred somehow makes it (Egoism of Stirner) having a fix idea itself ? Is creative nothing an idea or ...
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Spinoza: what would be a concrete example of a thing that "is in" another thing
Spinoza talks about substance and its modifications. Since God is the only substance, it follows that everything else that exists is modifications of modifications of modifications ... etc.
As I ...
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Can the laws of physics rule out disembodied minds?
In this article, philosopher Evan Fales argues that the laws of physics establish that disembodied minds (such as an immaterial God, for example) could not influence the physical world. Is it true?
(...
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How to correctly understand the positions of ontological nihilism?
Lately I have been investigating ontological nihilism. However, different sources give completely different definitions of this philosophical position, which I have divided into two main groups.
The ...
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On physical existence. Do virtual particles of QFT exist?
Existence is a polysemic and difficult word to define. Almost certainly numbers (and other well-defined mathematical objects) exist in a different way than a real physical object (the chair I sit in, ...
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Is there a quantitative model of change?
I am trying to build a particular theory, and I am wondering if there is a quantitative formulation for how much an object has changed.
For example, if an oak seed grows into an oak, how much has it ...
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What is metaphysical contingency?
I have always thought is something is metaphysically contingent is simply means that something, a state of affairs, MAY be the case. Tomorrow I may stub my foot on a nail and feel pain. This ...
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Are there things that don't exist?
This question is tripping me up.
My working definition of exists is "affecting something/someone"
Consider the following frame of reference: My bedroom
I now have two categories.
Things that ...
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Why can't numbers be 'used up'?
I was speaking with a young student who has been learning about addition and subtraction (essentially functions, but he doesn't know that yet) with the idea of a 'number machine' and he could not ...
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Does Kant implicitly commit the paralogism of pure reason when saying that to have a representation it is necessary to accompany it with 'I think'?
In Caygill's Kant Dictionary entry of 'I Think' there is this part:
Kant further claims that 'I think' is the necessary vehicle/form/accompaniment of experience: to have a representation it is ...
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Can a 'type' be a single entity?
Can something be a 'type' and be a single entity, for example take a certain discipline, which can be split into multiple sub-disciplines, we often describe them as 'types' or 'kinds' of the ...
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What are the justifications for holding concretes to be more important than abstractions?
What are the justifications for holding concretes to be more real or more important than abstractions like ideas and thoughts?
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Russell v. Meinong
Was the crux/essence of Russell's quarrel with Meinong a matter of epistemology or ontology? As I recall, it had primarily to do with fictive objects/non-denoting expressions, and Russell's theory of ...
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Are mathematical objects a type according to type-theory?
I've been thinking about mathematical objects as a metaphysical trope, and the idea of them existing as a type has a few issues for me.
Mainly the response to this question is similar to what I've ...
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How do we answer the question of "what is it"?
What is an electron? How do we answer such questions? If we try to explain it in more fundamental terms, we have to ask what is that and keeps going. So, my question is should we take things like ...
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For those that believe in it: Why is Leibniz' Law of Indiscernables true to you?
There has been a criticism of it wich goes like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_of_indiscernibles#Critique
Max Black has argued against the identity of indiscernibles by
counterexample. ...
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How does one determine the boundary of an object?
Say we have what we would call an 'object' made of many components, can these 'components' be named objects themselves? In the case do we have an object or many 'objects'? Do we define an object to be ...
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Understanding the nature of units of measurement
In the world we deal with concrete 'unit' quantities, the 'units' are very concrete, ten pencils, for example we can tell the difference between one pencil and another and we can also trace and ...
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Does a phenomenal experience require conscious awareness, or simply unconscious sensation?
If a tree is experienced lying on the forest floor, did it come into existence when experienced, or did something cause it to lie there?
This question is all about the division between phenomenal, ...
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Ontology of quantities and Zero quantities
How does the ontological status of quantities allow us to discuss the empty value (0) of a given quantity? For example, we may say that there is 'no distance' between two points but may also say that '...
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"Can be interpreted as" vs "Is"
Consider the following pairs of statements:
"I see what I interpret as a chair" vs. "I see a chair."
"This chair can be interpreted as a set of atoms" vs. "This ...
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Does knowledge require consciousness?
Does knowledge require consciousness for the entity that knows? In other words, is it the case that only conscious entities can know things? I was led to ask this question by considering whether or ...
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