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Overview
General Formal Ontology (GFO)
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4 Ontological Levels
We assume that the world is organized into
strata, and these strata are classified
and separated into layers. We use the term
level to denote both strata and layers. According
to Poli (45,46) (based
on the philosopher Hartmann), we distinguish at least three ontological
strata of the world: the material, the
mental/psychological, and the
social stratum. Every entity of the world participates in certain
strata and layers. We take the position that the levels are
characterized by integrated systems of categories. Hence, a level can
be understood as a meta-category whose instances are categories of
certain kinds. Among these levels specific forms of categorial and
existential dependencies hold. For example, a mental entity requires
an animate material object as its existential bearer.
According to (45), we use the matter-form
distinction to explain and understand
specific relationships between certain kinds of entities. Thus, an
atom may be understood as the matter of a molecule, the latter being
already endowed with form, the molecules are the matter of the cell,
and cells are the matter of multi-cellular entities. Each of these
levels is captured by a system of categories. These categorial systems
imply certain granularities; hence, granularity is a derived phenomenon.
The
passage from the material to the mental level cannot be understood as
a matter-form dependency, here, new aspects occur with a new series
of forms. The social stratum captures phenomena of communication, of
economic and legal realities, language, science, technology, and
morals etc.
Figure 1:
Structure of the Material
Stratum
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According to (45), we have outlined the structure of the
material stratum in figure 1. At the
top, figure 1 shows the three main
layers of the material stratum, which can be further refined. Every
sub-level has its own family of objects; according to
(45, table II, p. 268) there are:
| ecology |
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ecosystem |
| ethology |
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population |
| physiology |
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organism |
| cytology |
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cell |
| genetics |
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gene |
In accordance with Poli's work, we divide the
psychological/mental stratum into a layer of
awareness and a layer of
personality.
Awareness is comprised mostly of cognitive science subjects, such as
perception, memory, and reasoning. Personality, on the other hand, is
primarily concerned with the phenomenon of will, and an individual's
reaction on her experiences.
The social stratum is
subdivided into Agents and
Institutions. Agents are the bearers of the social
roles that humans play. Institutions are defined as systems of
interrelated social components. A social system can be
considered as a network in which businesses, politics, art, language (and
many other facets) both present their own features and
influence each other.
Robert Hoehndorf
2006-10-18
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