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.
766
questions
2
votes
4
answers
446
views
According to the major theories of concepts, where do meanings come from?
In all our intellectual pursuits, we use concepts like "atoms" for a structure or "ingredients" for a recipe. We all have to use them. For example, consider the concepts 'existence'...
- 71
2
votes
1
answer
114
views
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 ...
- 3,591
1
vote
1
answer
127
views
Does the following argument about the ontological nature of math exhibit poor reasoning?
Argument
P1: Mathematics is the substrate upon which all natural phenomena occur and necessarily governs phenomena in the physical world.
P2: One can experience something that is not mathematically ...
- 263
1
vote
1
answer
39
views
Is there a term for this strong form of actualism?
Actualism is the view that the actual world is the only possible world. But I was told that even most actualists believe in true counterfactuals, like, "It might have been the case that Adolf ...
- 4,198
0
votes
1
answer
59
views
A clarification of nonexistence
This is similar to a question I asked long ago, but there was a misinterpretation. People often say that, for instance, unicorns don't exist, but isn't it more correct to say that there are no ...
- 4,198
1
vote
2
answers
862
views
Is it necessary for something to be observed for it to exist?
Say something was to happen in the universe, so minuscule that no one notices it, and it has no effect on history whatsoever. Is it correct to say that it never happened, because when we say something ...
- 21
3
votes
7
answers
636
views
Do multiverse theories undermine intelligent design arguments mathematically?
It is well known that the probability of life arising in a universe of our sort is vanishingly small. Theists have used this fact to argue that life is designed by God. However, if there are an ...
- 351
2
votes
2
answers
184
views
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 ...
- 560
1
vote
2
answers
107
views
For Whitehead, is an event theoretical or ontological?
I'm getting to Whitehead in my reading list, and have started with "Concept of Nature".
Have not finished it yet, but something disturbs me throughout the book (aside from his god-awful ...
- 3,776
0
votes
3
answers
204
views
What is a universe? (taboo the word "exist")
It seems to me that "universe" and "exist" are defined cyclically. When not talking about many worlds or parallel universes, it's clear what it means to say whether or not a thing ...
- 117
2
votes
1
answer
84
views
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 ...
3
votes
1
answer
194
views
Does Marx make a metaphysical/ontological argument for Materialism anywhere?
As I understand it currently, I read Marx as more of a historian, economist and sociologist and I am finding it hard to locate any metaphysical argument against Hegel's 'idealism'.
All I know is this ...
- 413
1
vote
7
answers
517
views
Can the concept of the Trinity be logically supported as the belief in one God rather than three Gods?
Christianity has its roots in Judaism, as such some of the teachings in the Old Testament have carried into and are reaffirmed in the New Testament, one such being is the monotheistic belief in one ...
- 127
0
votes
5
answers
556
views
What have philosophers had to say about something being ‘real’ vs ‘imaginary’?
How do philosophers approach this difference? Is the question the same as asking 'what is the difference between real and imaginary'? What makes something real vs imitation? And, why it is so ...
- 21
0
votes
2
answers
277
views
Mathematical universe hypothesis: Why shouldn't all imaginable universes exist?
In his paper on mathematical universe hypothesis, Max Tegmark only responses with a single paragraph to this assumption:
The MUH and the Level IV multiverse idea does certainly not imply that all ...
- 683
3
votes
4
answers
677
views
Which aspects of consciousness are most often addressed by philosophers of mind?
What are the most discussed parts of consciousness according to philosophers?
Epistemologists cite perception, memory, reason, and testimony as frequent objects of philosophical discourse in respect ...
- 3,591
0
votes
0
answers
37
views
Justification for the phenominal/ noumenal distinction?
Cartesian dualism has purportedly been debunked. How does the phenomenal/ noumenal distinction avoid being characterized as the same mistake? Is it really impossible to visualize a symbiosis-in-agency ...
user37981
1
vote
0
answers
238
views
Does This Answer The Two Hard Problems – Why Is There Anything? and How Do We Know It?
Question
I imagine that most philosophers, professional or amateur, must have some kind of personal philosophical view of their preferred ontology/metaphysic, even if it is incomplete. This is mine as ...
- 81
0
votes
0
answers
68
views
Mario Bunge's ontology
In his Ontology book, Mario Bunge defines a 'bare individual' as a real thing stripped of all its properties but endowed with the capacity of associating. Then he interprets the totality of bare ...
- 1
1
vote
3
answers
153
views
If I delete and replace a character in a computer document, to what extent is it the same character?
This is a question partly about philosophical terminology and categorisation as well as existence.
Suppose I type the random string "janwekxq" into a Word document. I then accidentally ...
3
votes
0
answers
116
views
Philosophy and Mental Health [closed]
I have heard a story of a Peace Pilgrim, an American pilgrim and ascetic, who managed to heal one sick man through conversation. The man was suffering from general degeneration of health and doctors ...
- 100
1
vote
0
answers
53
views
Does the present only exist to the extent that it leaves traces in the future?
Under what conditions can we conclude from the position that the past only exists to the extent it leaves traces in the present to the position that the present only exists to the extent it leaves ...
- 147
0
votes
3
answers
585
views
What is the meaning of "epistemic", "epistemological" and "ontological" in this context?
I was reading The Outer Limits of Reason: What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us by Noson S. Yanofsky and in some paragraphs of this books, The writer uses the words "epistemic",...
- 169
5
votes
4
answers
682
views
Why did Nietzsche call Spinoza his 'precursor'?
In a letter Nietzsche made the following comment about Spinoza;
"I am utterly amazed, utterly enchanted! I have a precursor, and what a precursor! I hardly knew Spinoza: that I should have turned ...
user37981
0
votes
1
answer
78
views
Explanation of a quote from Spinoza
Notandum, dari necessario unius cujusque rei existentis certam aliquam CAUSAM, propter quam existit. Et notandum, hanc causam, propter quart aliqua res existit, vel debere contineri in ipsa natura et ...
- 19
-1
votes
3
answers
102
views
A test for objectivity?
One could define the objective world that we believe to exist independent of us, as that part of our experience that is simultaneously experienced by other observers as well(And this common ...
2
votes
0
answers
123
views
Why are concepts without intuitions blind?
I think at this point I understand all the transcendental arguments of CPR except this one - and probably this could considerably change my understanding of Kant as a whole.
Here is my confusion.
...
- 413
1
vote
0
answers
458
views
Are mental objects timeless?
Let's suspend for a moment the How? of the body mind problem and suppose an ontological paradigm where there are two classes of objects: mental and physical. Also that physical objects are spatially ...
- 2,373
3
votes
4
answers
2k
views
What is the difference between the spiritual and the metaphysical
According to this (old) page, metaphysics is the study of things beyond anything humans can perceive. Because of this fact, metaphysics is relatively faith-based discipline and, compared to science, ...
- 61
3
votes
0
answers
201
views
Duns Scotus : how can the " concept of being" be univocal without there being a nature common to God and to creatures?
Source : Paul Vincent Spade, Survey Of Medieval Philoosphy (https://pvspade.com/Logic/index.html)
Dunst Scotus is said to hold the thesis of univocity of being: i.e. the thesis according to which the ...
user37859
1
vote
5
answers
570
views
Could there be a universe where the concept of order and logic and numbers and objects and space and time don't exist?
Could there be a universe where the concept of order and logic and numbers and objects and space and time don't exist ? This would preclude math as we know it. Maybe there is something better than ...
- 35
0
votes
1
answer
57
views
How do concepts like "change" and "structure" fit with the object - property distinction?
I've been pondering about the distinction between the object/concrete/particular vs property/abstract/universal.... (side note: I used to think that properties are more "general" than objects, but ...
- 557
0
votes
0
answers
148
views
How definition relates to abstract/concrete objects?
I am having a hard time to understand what a definition does. Is it an abbreviation we use instead of using too many words? But then why mathematicians define mathematical objects? Does it mean they "...
- 681
0
votes
2
answers
140
views
Life from Non-living Stuff [closed]
The most amazing thing about a living system is that it is made up of non-living atoms and molecules!!!
This beautiful thought just got me awestruck, the abstract feelings that we have are just some ...
0
votes
3
answers
176
views
Are facts objects of some kind?
What is a fact, exactly? A table, for instance, is an object located within a particular region of space. But what about facts? Are they one kind of object, and if so, what kind of objects are they?
- 4,198
3
votes
0
answers
77
views
What happened to ( aristotelian) substantial forms in cartesian ontology? On which ground ( metaphysical or physical) are they rejected?
In aristotelian philosophy, there are no bare particulars ( contrary to what is the case in Plato, according to P.V. Spade) but internally structured ( substantial) particulars in which 2 "parts"/...
user37859
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
What are some examples of things that are ontologically parasitic
To be ontologically parasitic, a thing must exist only in reference to another thing.
For example, in the excellent video "How Many Holes Does a Human Have?", holes are identified as ontologically ...
- 229
0
votes
0
answers
43
views
What is the ontological status of the laws of logic? [duplicate]
Are the laws of logic abstract objects that exist independently of physical things? Are they the same in all possible worlds? Are they man-made constructs, nothing more than ideas in our minds? Or ...
- 468
0
votes
1
answer
75
views
What is the most internally-consistent theory of forms?
I'm trying to construct a fictional reality out of the Socratic-era (ideally) theories of Forms, but every philosopher's attempt seems to have at least one fatal flaw (and most of them several big ...
- 346
0
votes
1
answer
142
views
What types of theories are there?
How do I describe the difference between a theory that is purely descriptive in nature, vs one that is predictive? I.e. the former gives a rigorous description of the physical state of a system, while ...
- 109
0
votes
0
answers
35
views
Is it reasonable to conflate being and truth?
Let x be something that exists unequivocally. Then "x exists" is true, but does it make sense to say x itself is true?
And vice versa - the proposition "x exists" is true, but is there a sense in ...
- 468
0
votes
3
answers
187
views
How Does One Define a Keyboard?
Suppose we have 3 keyboards and we take out all the switches. Would we call these objects still "keyboards"? Someone could argue that these objects don't have switches so they can't be called "...
- 681
0
votes
2
answers
685
views
What are problems that arise by taking a point vs space as the most primitive notion in geometry?
I hear the notion of a point being the most primitive notion in geometry. But to talk about a point, one needs to think of a space of some sort. Only then, the point can be understood as a position ...
- 557
0
votes
3
answers
250
views
Is there any philosophy which proposes that whatever you believe or imagine is true or exists?
Every day, we have conflicts with almost everyone about what we think and what we believe (there are religious conflicts, conflicts of opinions...). Also, there are people who think about alternative ...
- 509
2
votes
2
answers
313
views
Relationism, Substantivalism, and Simultaneity?
I've been breaking my head open lately over special relativity and its conception of spacetime's dynamical as well as kinematical features. One thing that has stuck in my head is that of whether the ...
-1
votes
1
answer
153
views
What is a both sufficient and necessary condition for not treating people merely as a means? [closed]
What is a both sufficient and necessary condition for not treating people merely as a means?
To me the meaning of a concept is equivalent to a sufficient and necessary condition with which to ...
- 350
0
votes
0
answers
36
views
Assigning "self-awareness" to qualia as a necessary attribute [duplicate]
The teleportation question which I'm sure most of you have researched,
If I replicate you atom for atom, which one of them will be you?
The issue of materialistic basis for consciousness posits a ...
- 389
2
votes
1
answer
58
views
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 ...
- 282
2
votes
1
answer
112
views
What exactly are emotions ontologically?
We put categories on things that we see outside in the world. We say an explosion is an event, a happening in time and space. We say stuff is made out of matter. Yet we all know that emotions exist ...
- 389
2
votes
0
answers
40
views
Perdurantism applied to non-physical objects
I have recently been reading up a lot on perdurantism aka four dimensionalism including papers by Rea, Sider, Bittner and Donnelly among others and I was interested in knowing whether there was any ...
- 21