Categories and Foundational Ontology a Medieval Tutorial
Abstract
Foundational ontologies, central constructs in ontological investigations and engineering alike, are based on ontological categories. Firstly proposed by Aris- totle as the very ur-elements from which the whole of reality can be derived, they are not easy to identify, let alone partition and/or hierarchize; in particular, the question of their number poses serious challenges. The late medieval philosopher Dietrich of Freiberg wrote around 1286 a tutorial that can help us today with this exceedingly difficult task. In this paper, I discuss ontological categories and their importance for foundational ontologies from both the contemporary per- spective and the original Aristotelian viewpoint, I provide the translation from the Latin into English of Dietrich’s De origine II with an introductory elabo- ration, and I extract a foundational ontology–that is in fact a single-category one–from this text rooted in Dietrich’s specification of types of subjecthood and his conception of intentionality as causal operation.
Highlights
GFO includes non-foundational concepts
- "GFO (General Formal Ontology) is claimed to be a foundational ontology, but (cf. Herre, 2010): Its multi-categorial approach envisages universals, concepts, and symbol structures and their interrelations, of which only universals, and perhaps concepts, can be said to be basic categories; it includes objects (3D entities) and processes (4D entities) and levels of reality, which might satisfy both conditions (i) and (ii), but is designed for applications, which throws doubt on this supposed satisfaction. All in all, in the summary presentation of this project (Herre, 2010, p. 298) nowhere are to be found ur-elements such as substances, properties, qualities, etc., or ur-distinctions such as part vs. whole, essential vs. accessory, etc. (see Introduction)."
UFO-B is an ontology for events
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