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1 Part 3 Tools of Ontology: Universals, Partitions
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2 Porphyrian Hierarchy
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3 Linnaean Hierarchy
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4 Medical Diagnostic Hierarchy a hierarchy in the realm of processes
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5 Species-genus hierarchies capture the way the world is (Aristotelian realism) – they depict the invariant structures/patterns/regularities in reality
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6 or: species-genus hierarchies may capture the way the world should be – by depicting the structures/patterns/regularities in the realm of standards, ideal cases, recipes (cf. a hierarchy of medical therapies)
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7 Anglocentric (Aristotelian) Realism The general terms of TEE (or many of them), including terms like ‘Coca Cola’, correspond to universals (species and genera, invariant patterns) in reality
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8 Two distinct realms of being universalsparticulars generalindividual typestokens speciesinstances essencefact
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9 siamese mammal cat organism substance species, genera animal instances frog
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10 Common nouns pekinese mammal cat organism substance animal common nouns proper names
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11 siamese mammal cat organism substance types animal tokens frog
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12 Accidents: Species and instances substance animal mammal human Irishman types tokens this individual token man
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13 There are universals both among substances (man, mammal) and among moments (run, movement)
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14 Substance universals pertain to what a thing is at all times at which it exists: cow man rock planet VW Golf
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15 Note use of ‘substance’ in the sense of ‘thing’, ‘object’ count sense of substance vs. mass sense of substance (‘milk’, ‘gold’)
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16 Moment universals pertain to how a thing is at some time at which it exists: red hot suntanned spinning Clintophobic Eurosceptic
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17 Moments, too, instantiate genera and species Thus moment universals form trees
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18 quality color red scarlet R232, G54, B24
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19 moments too are distinguished as between tokens and types which is to say: between genera and species on the one hand,... and instances on the other
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20 Accidents: Species and instances quality color red scarlet R232, G54, B24 this individual accident of redness (this token redness – here, now)
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21 One plus Nine Categories (AQL) quid? substance quale? quality quantum? quantity ad quid? relation ubi? place quando? time in quo situ? status/context in quo habitu? habitus quid agit? action quid patitur? passion
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22 Not in a Subject Substantial In a Subject Accidental Said of a Subject Universal, General, Type Second Substances man, horse, mammal Non-substantial Universals whiteness, knowledge Not said of a Subject Particular, Individual, Token First Substances this individual man, this horse this mind, this body Individual Accidents this individual whiteness, knowledge of grammar
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23 Aristotle’s Ontological Square SubstantialAccidental Second substance man cat ox Second accident headache sun-tan dread First substance this man this cat this ox First accident this headache this sun-tan this dread Universal Particular
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24 Aristotle’s Ontological Square SubstantialAccidental Second substance man cat ox Second accident headache sun-tan dread First substance this man this cat this ox First accident this headache this sun-tan this dread Universal Particular
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25 Aristotle’s Ontological Square SubstantialAccidental Second substance man cat ox Second accident headache sun-tan dread First substance this man this cat this ox First accident this headache this sun-tan this dread Universal Particular
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26 Aristotle’s Ontological Square SubstantialAccidental Second substance man cat ox Second accident headache sun-tan dread First substance this man this cat this ox First accident this headache this sun-tan this dread Universal Particular
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27 Aristotle’s Ontological Square SubstantialAccidental Second substance man cat ox Second accident headache sun-tan dread First substance this man this cat this ox First accident this headache this sun-tan this dread Universal Particular
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28 Refining the Ontological Square SubstantialAccidental Second substance man cat ox Second accident headache sun-tan dread First substance this man this cat this ox First accident this headache this sun-tan this dread Universal Particular
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29 Refining the Ontological Square Substantial Dependent Entities Exercise of power Exercise of function Movement Action Substances Collectives Undetached parts Substantial boundaries Powers Functions Qualities Shapes Occurrents Continuants
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30 Refining the Ontological Square Substantial Moments (Dependent) Exercise of power Exercise of function Movement Action Substances Collectives Undetached parts Substantial boundaries Powers Functions Qualities Shapes Occurrents Continuants
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31 Refining the Ontological Square Substantial Dependent Entities Exercise of power Exercise of function Movement Action Processes? Substances Collectives Undetached parts Substantial boundaries Powers Functions Qualities Shapes Moments? Occurrents Continuants
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32 Refining the Ontological Square Substantial Dependent Entities John‘s reddening John‘s blushing John‘s bruising 4-D Substances Collectives Undetached parts Substantial boundaries John‘s redness John‘s blush John‘s bruise 3-D Occurrents Continuants
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33 Refining the Ontological Square Substantial Dependent Entities John‘s reddening John‘s blushing John‘s bruising 4-D (perduring) Stuff (Blood, Snow, Tissue) Mixtures Holes John‘s redness John‘s blush John‘s bruise 3-D (enduring) Occurrents Continuants
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34 A Refined Ontological Square Substantial Dependent Entities John‘s reddening John‘s blushing John‘s bruising 4-D (perduring) Stuff (Blood, Snow, Tissue) Mixtures Holes John‘s redness John‘s blush John‘s bruise 3-D (enduring) Occurrents Continuants
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35 Aristotle’s Ontological Square SubstantialAccidental Second substance man cat ox Second accident headache sun-tan dread First substance this man this cat this ox First accident this headache this sun-tan this dread Universal Particular
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36 Some philosophers accept only part of the Aristotelian multi-categorial ontology
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37 Standard Predicate Logic – F(a), R(a,b)... SubstantialAccidental Attributes F, G, R Individuals a, b, c this, that Universal Particular
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38 Bicategorial Nominalism SubstantialAccidental First substance this man this cat this ox First accident this headache this sun-tan this dread Universal Particular
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39 Process Metaphysics SubstantialAccidental Events Processes “Everything is flux” Universal Particular
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40 Problems arise for such partial ontologies arise only if they come along with the claim to be complete (reductionists are nearly always correct in what they hold to exist -- but incorrect when they hold that nothing else exists)
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41 Reductionism is like holding that only maps of some one specific scale (say 1:10,000) are true representations of reality
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42 Basic Formal Ontology BFO is neutral with regard to mental/intentional entities BFO is neutral with regard to sets/classes … ontology is like every other science a work in progress
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44 genus Species-genus trees can be represented also as map- like partitions
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45 From Species to Genera canary animal bird
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46 From Species to Genera animal bird canary
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47 Species Genera as Tree canary animal bird fish ostrich
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48 Species-Genera as Map/Partition animal bird canary ostrich fish canary
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49 Tree and Map-Partitions Together
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50 ‘Granularity’ in two senses: depth of a tree hierarchy resolution of a map-like partition
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51 There are many different species-genus hierarchies many different ways to cut through the complex thicket of invariant patterns in reality
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52 Recall the distinct temporal partitions of reality as a whole
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53 Coarse-grained Partition
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54 Fine-Grained Partition
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55 Basic Formal Ontology ? ? ?
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56 Ontological Zooming
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57 Universe/Periodic Table animal bird canary ostrich fish folk biology partition of DNA space
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58 Universe/Periodic Table animal bird canary ostrich fish both are transparent partitions of one and the same reality
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59 France Regions Departments
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60 Perspectivalism Different partitions may represent cuts through the same reality which are skew to each other
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61 An organism is a totality of molecules An organism is a totality of cells An organism is a single unitary substance... all of these express veridical partitions An organism is a totality of atoms
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62 all express partitions which are transparent, at different levels of granularity, to the same reality beyond
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63 Ontology like cartography must work with maps at different scales and with maps picking out different dimensions of invariants
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64 Basic Formal Ontology inspired in part by spatial ontologies developed in Geographic Information Science Cf. Th. Bittner map layers
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66 If Aristotelian realism is right then there are very many map-like partitions, at different scales, which are all transparent to the reality beyond the mistake arises when one supposes that only one of these partitions is veridical
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67 There are not only map-like partitions of reality into spatial chunks but also distinct partitions of reality into universals -- mutually compatible ways of providing inventories of universals (among proteins, among cells, among organisms …)
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68 Varieties of granular partitions Partonomies: inventories of the parts of individual entities Maps: partonomies of space Taxonomies: inventories of the universals covering a given domain of reality
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69 come with a labelling and an address system Partitions
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70 Lake Tahoe Land Cover two mutually dependent partitions
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71 Cerebral Cortex
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72 Mouse Chromosome 5
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73 Periodic Table Periodic Table of Chemical Elements
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74 Set theory is one possible partition of reality is it a transparent partition? or a useful tool of mathematics?
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75 Partonomies and taxonomies can be combined
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76 Partonomies and taxonomies can be combined
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77 Partonomies and taxonomies can be combined
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78 Partonomies and taxonomies can be combined
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80 but should not be confused is-a overloading ulcer parts of ulcer types of ulcer phases of ulcer
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81 Artefactual universals have crisp borderlines
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82 birds ostrich Natural universals have non-crisp borderlines sparrow marked by borderline cases
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83 Natural universals have a kernel/penumbra structure kernel of focal instances penumbra of borderline cases
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84 Prototypicality among sub-categories some sub-species of a given genus are more typical, standard, than others canary is more typical than ostrich
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85 instances There is prototypicality among instances too albino frog
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86 Types of boundaries in the realm of universal partitions Fiat vs. bona fide Crisp vs. non-crisp Natural vs. artefactual Continuous vs. non-continuous …
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87 The Ontology of Holes
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88 Places are holes
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89 Temple at Corinth
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90 Pipe
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91 The Ontology of Places
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92 Varieties of Controlled Airspace
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93 Places For Aristotle there are no empty places The place of a substance is the interior boundary of the surrounding body (for example the interior boundary of the surrounding water where it meets a fish’s skin)
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94 Places For Aristotle a place is a hole filled by a substance The place occupied by you is the boundary of the surrounding air where it meets your body
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95 A more adequate ontology: Places are holes
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96 Places are holes
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97 A hole in the ground Solid physical boundaries at the floor and walls but with a fiat lid: hole
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98 Holes, too, involve two kinds of boundaries bona fide boundaries which exist independently of our demarcating acts fiat boundaries which exist only because we put them there
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99 niches, environments are holes
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101 Ontology of Environments Gibson: affordances geometry of surface layout
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