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January 25, 2005
Ontology as a term of art
Posted by Clay Shirky
After my little tirade yesterday, my friend Kio pointed out that ontology is a term of art for almost every group that uses it, and that it has very different meanings in those various groups.
For the metaphysicians, ontology is inquiry into the nature and relations of being, with a particular focus on fundamental categories. That’s not what I mean.
The definition of ontology I’m referring to is derived more from AI than philosophy: a formal, explicit specification of a shared conceptualization. (Other glosses of this AI-flavored view can be found using Google for define:ontology.) It is that view that I am objecting to.
Comments (3)
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1. orcmid on January 25, 2005 12:42 PM writes...
Yup. I was going to suggest that the general AI notion might be acceptable, it is the leap to pre-determined, exclusive taxonomic stuff that fails. But on reflection, the notion that one cn have a formal, explicit specification of a conceptualization (shared or not?) is the pitfall, and it is all downhill from there.
I wonder what fosters the drive to believe in the possibility of such a thing.
Permalink to Comment2. Patrick Corcoran on January 25, 2005 1:42 PM writes...
For my money, I like the way Wikipedia distinguishes between the two. They define ontology in general as being very close to its Greek root meaning. They have a second definition which is ontology as it relates to computer science, and the meanings are notably different.
Permalink to Comment3. Siner on February 1, 2005 12:47 PM writes...
Please stop your obscene language
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