Ontology

In Luciano Floridi, The Blackwell guide to the philosophy of computing and information. Blackwell. pp. 155-166 (2003)
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Abstract

Ontology as a branch of philosophy is the science of what is, of the kinds and structures of objects, properties, events, processes and relations in every area of reality. ‘Ontology’ in this sense is often used by philosophers as a synonym of ‘metaphysics’ (a label meaning literally: ‘what comes after the Physics’), a term used by early students of Aristotle to refer to what Aristotle himself called ‘first philosophy’. But in recent years, in a development hardly noticed by philosophers, the term ‘ontology’ has gained currency in the field of computer and information science, and in information-driven research in bioinformatics and related areas. We examine these new developments in applied ontology, and show what lessons they might have for both philosophers and information scientists.

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2009-01-28

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Barry Smith
University at Buffalo

Citations of this work

Making AI Meaningful Again.Jobst Landgrebe & Barry Smith - 2021 - Synthese 198 (March):2061-2081.
Sixteen days.Barry Smith & Berit Brogaard - 2003 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 28 (1):45 – 78.

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References found in this work

On What There Is.W. V. O. Quine - 2011 - In Robert B. Talisse & Scott F. Aikin, The Pragmatism Reader: From Peirce Through the Present. Princeton University Press. pp. 221-233.
The Construction of Social Reality.John Searle - 1995 - Philosophy 71 (276):313-315.
Principles of object perception.Elizabeth S. Spelke - 1990 - Cognitive Science 14 (1):29--56.

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