Barry Smith's landmark paper in the field of applied ontology is titled *"Ontology"*, which was published in 2003 in the book *The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information*, edited by Luciano Floridi.
Summary of the paper "Ontology" by Barry Smith
1. Definition and Position of Ontology:
- Ontology, as a branch of philosophy, is the science that studies "what exists." This field deals with the types and structures of objects, properties, events, processes, and relations in all dimensions of reality.
- In philosophy, ontology is sometimes considered synonymous with metaphysics. This concept was introduced in the seventeenth century by philosophers like Rudolf Goclenius and Jacob Lorhard.
2. Goals of Ontology:
- A comprehensive and precise classification of entities to explain and describe all phenomena in the world.
- This classification must include all types of entities, including their relations.
3. Approaches in Ontology:
- Major classifications:
- Substantialists: Focus on entities as objects and continuants.
- Fluxists: Focus on events and processes.
- Adequatists vs. Reductionists:
- Adequatists seek to classify all levels of reality, while reductionists focus on decomposing reality into its simplest components.
4. Methods of Ontology:
- Using formal tools such as logic, set theory, topology, and algebra to develop and test theories.
- Focus on classification and description, rather than prediction and explanation.
5. Applications of Ontology in Information Science:
- In information science and computing, ontology is used as a tool to solve conceptual and terminological inconsistencies between different systems.
- The creation of a "reference ontology" as a common framework for representing information and resolving data conflicts.
6. Upper-Level Ontologies:
- The proposal to create ontologies with broad categories (such as time, space, processes) that can serve as a foundation for various specialties.
7. Challenges:
- Constructing a common ontology for all domains is difficult due to differences in needs and definitions.
- Lack of coordination between different ontologies can lead to inconsistencies.
8. Lessons from Philosophical Ontology:
- Ontology engineers can use the results of philosophical work to improve their models.
- Attention to independent reality can help reduce inconsistencies and create a unified system.
Conclusion:
- Applied ontology, both in philosophy and information science, is a powerful tool for understanding and organizing knowledge.
- Collaboration between philosophers and information engineers can yield useful and practical solutions to real-world problems.
This paper emphasizes that ontology, both as a philosophical domain and as a tool in information science, plays a fundamental role in shaping and coordinating knowledge in today's complex world.
Source:
Smith, Barry. (2003). *Ontology*. In L. Floridi (Ed.), *The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information* (pp. 155-166). Oxford: Blackwell.
*Summary prepared by Mohammad Rahim Jamshidi. *
Shiraz Iran
www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-rahim-jamshidi-79895a343
