Ontology

:This article discusses ontology in philosophy. For the term in computer science, see ontology (computer science).

Some basic questions

Ontology has as one of its basic questions: "What are the fundamental categories of being?" Different philosophers make different lists of such fundamental categories of being.

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This highlights one of the problems of the philosophical approach—it relies on continued investigation of categories, and has no clear way to stop asking. Whereas, in theology and library science and artificial intelligence, one typically adopts a relatively stable foundation ontology. This reflects a larger cosmology and probably morals, aesthetic examples or stories; all of which can set foundational priorities. In theology this derives from a religion and its (relatively) stable doctrines.

Related Topics:
Theology - Library science - Artificial intelligence - Foundation ontology - Cosmology - Morals - Religion

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Further examples of ontological questions include:

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• What is existence?
• What are physical objects?
• What are the essential, as opposed to merely accidental, attributes of a given object?
• What constitutes the Identity of an object?
• Can one give an account of what it means to say that a physical object exists?
• What are an object's properties or relations and how are they related to the object itself?
• Is existence a property?
• When does an object go out of existence, as opposed to merely changing?
• Why does something exist rather than nothing?