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General Formal Ontology (GFO)

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11.1 Situations and Configurations

Material structures, properties, and relators (see sect. 10.1) presuppose one another, and constitute complex units or wholes. The simplest units of this kind are facts (cf. sect. 10.2). A configuration is an aggregate of facts. We restrict the discussion in this section to a special type of facts, and ask whether an aggregate of facts can be integrated into a whole. Put differently, we ask whether a collection of facts constitutes a whole. We consider a collection of presential facts which exist at the same time-boundary. Such collections may be considered to be presentials, and we call them configurations.

It is further required that configurations contain at least one material object. Material objects are entities having a natural boundary, and on this basis, configurations may be classified as either simple or non-simple. A simple configuration is a configuration that is composed of exactly one material object and has only properties inhering in that material object. A configuration is said to be non-simple if it is made up of more than one material object, and these are connected by relators.

A situation is a special configuration which can be comprehended as a whole and satisfies certain conditions of unity, which are imposed by relations and categories associated with the situation. We consider situations to be the most complex kind of presentials.

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Next: 11.2 Situoids and Configuroids Up: 11 Situoids, Situations, and Previous: 11 Situoids, Situations, and