Introduction to Philosophy from an Ontological Perspective

The Course

This course provides an introduction to central themes in the history of philosophy viewed from an ontological perspective. The course is designed to be of interest to both philosophers and those with a background in computer and information science. Topics treated will include: a brief history of ontology from Aristotle to Kant

1. Ontology as a Branch of Philosophy Video • Slides A brief history of ontology Semantically enhanced publishing GO: The most successful ontology thus far Aristotle's Metaphysics and Categories The Ontological Square Granular partitions Aristotle vs. Kant

2. Ontology and Logic Video • Slides David Armstrong's Spreadsheet Ontology Fantology: The error of assuming that logic ('F(a)') is the guide to ontological form The confusion of universals and properties Universals and the Boolean organization of the world of classes First order logic with universal terms (FOLWUT)

3. The Ontology of Social Reality Video • Slides Speech acts The money in your bank account War and chess Debts Institutions Searle's naturalism and its problems Objects vs. representations Hernando de Soto and The Mystery of Capital Ontology of the credit crunch

4. Why I Am No Longer a Philosopher (or: Ontology Leaving the Mother Ship of Philosophy) Video • Slides How psychology became a scientific discipline independent of philosophy in the 19th century Reasons for founding a new discipline The rise of ontology as an independent discipline Research centers, funding, methods, journals, peer review, national and international conferences, teaching Practical applications of ontology Typical results of the founding of a new discipline Towards a career path for ontologists

5. Why Computer Science Needs Philosophy Video • Slides Today's information-driven science faces a vast new problem of data unification In medicine, this problem can be of life-and-death significance The organization that is HL7 Ontology 101: Why computer-science ontology needs common sense Does France exist? Why computer scientists prefer a view of ontology as conceptual modeling The alternative: scientific ontologies Towards ontology (science)

6. Ontology and the Semantic Web Video • Slides Examples of Semantic Web ontologies Simple syllogisms and beyond Problems with XML Clay Shirky: Why the Semantic Web would be a utopia Blooming 'lite' ontologies Why ontology requires thinking To move in the right direction, the Semantic Web needs (inter alia) a guiding upper level ontology CYC, SUMO, DOLCE, BFO

7. Towards a Standard Upper Level Ontology Video • Slides Scientific ontologies have special features Building scientific ontologies which work together demands a common set of ontological relations Basic Formal Ontology: benefits of coordination Users of BFO Continuants, occurrents, realizables Specific dependence, generic dependence, information artifacts Dispositions, roles, functions Diseases and disorders: the Ontology of General Medical Science

8. The Universal Core: Ontology and the US Federal Government Data Integration Initiative Video • Slides The DoD Net-Centric Data Strategy The Universal Core (UCore) Taxonomy and Semantic Layer Reasoning with OWL DL Manging extension ontologies Example: Command and Control Information entities The UCore change management process How UCore SL helps

Full deck of slides in handout form Background reading Course details Testimonial

Department of Philosophy: Special Topics PHI 598. Registration number:

Time: Asynchronous on-line, Fall 2024

Room: N/A

Instructor: Barry Smith

Office hours: By appointment via email to [1]

Recommended background reading

R. Arp, B. Smith, A. D. Spear, Building Ontologies with Basic Formal Ontology

John R. Searle, Making the Social World

E. J. Lowe, The Four Category Ontology

Roman Ingarden, The Literary Work of Art. An Investigation on the Borderlines of Ontology, Logic, and Theory of Language