--- title: Ontology TARGET DECK: Obsidian::H&SS FILE TAGS: ontology::philosophy tags: - ontology --- ## Overview Ontology is the philosophical study of being. Generally *things* are split into two broad categories: **abstract** and **concrete** things. These words are "terms of art" and their definition is not standardized in any way. %%ANKI Basic What did Quine declare as *the* ontological question? Back: "What is there?" Reference: Simon Hewitt, “A Cardinal Worry for Permissive Metaontology,” _Metaphysica_ 16, no. 2 (September 18, 2015): 159–65, [https://doi.org/10.1515/mp-2015-0009](https://doi.org/10.1515/mp-2015-0009). END%% %%ANKI Basic Who is attributed *the* ontological question? Back: Willard Van Orman Quine. Reference: Simon Hewitt, “A Cardinal Worry for Permissive Metaontology,” _Metaphysica_ 16, no. 2 (September 18, 2015): 159–65, [https://doi.org/10.1515/mp-2015-0009](https://doi.org/10.1515/mp-2015-0009). END%% %%ANKI Cloze {Ontology} is the {philosophical study of being}. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Cloze {Epistemology} is the {philosophical study of knowledge}. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Cloze {Taxonomy} is the {branch of science concerned with categorization}. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Cloze {Mereology} is the {philosophical study of part-whole relationships}. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic What does Effingham mean when saying "concreta" and "abstracta" are terms of art? Back: They are terms defined freely by a person to mean whatever one wants. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Cloze In general, ontologists often categorize things as either {concreta} or {abstracta}. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic Generally speaking, what does someone *probably* mean by "concrete" things? Back: Things that exists in space and/or time. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic Generally speaking, what does someone *probably* mean by "abstract" things? Back: Things that exist in neither space nor time. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic Is a material object considered concreta? Back: Usually. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic Is an immaterial object considered concreta? Back: Possibly. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic Is a material object considered abstracta? Back: Not usually. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic Is an immaterial object considered abstracta? Back: Possibly. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% ## Properties A **property** is an entity that can be predicated of things or, in other words, attributed to them. %%ANKI Basic What is a property? Back: An entity that can be predicated or attributed to things. Reference: Francesco Orilia and Michele Paolini Paoletti, “Properties,” in _The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy_, ed. Edward N. Zalta, Spring 2022 (Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2022), [https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2022/entries/properties/](https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2022/entries/properties/). END%% ### Instantiation An entity is said to **instantiate** a property if said entity bears a connection to the property. For example, a human instantiates the property of *being human* and a man instantiates the properties of *being human* and *being a man*. %%ANKI Basic What is instantiation? Back: A relation held between an entity and the properties that describe the entity. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Cloze A man is said to {instantiate} the property of *being a man*. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic What is self-instantiation? Back: The instantiation of a property by itself. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic What is non-self-instantiation? Back: The non-instantiation of a property by itself. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic Suppose all properties are self-instantiating. What must be said about *being honest*? Back: The property *being honest* is honest. Reference: Francesco Orilia and Michele Paolini Paoletti, “Properties,” in _The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy_, ed. Edward N. Zalta, Spring 2022 (Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2022), [https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2022/entries/properties/](https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2022/entries/properties/). END%% %%ANKI Basic Suppose properties are abstracta. What self-instantiation is thus formed? Back: The property of abstractness is abstract. Reference: Francesco Orilia and Michele Paolini Paoletti, “Properties,” in _The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy_, ed. Edward N. Zalta, Spring 2022 (Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2022), [https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2022/entries/properties/](https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2022/entries/properties/). END%% %%ANKI Basic What is the paradox of non-self-instantiation? Back: The property *non-self-instantiation* is non-self-instantiating iff it is self-instantiating. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic Let $P$ be the property *is non-self-instantiating*. What happens if $P$ is non-self-instantiating? Back: Then $P$ must be self-instantiating. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% %%ANKI Basic Let $P$ be the property *is non-self-instantiating*. What happens if $P$ is self-instantiating? Back: Then $P$ must be non-self-instantiating. Reference: Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). END%% ## Bibliography * Francesco Orilia and Michele Paolini Paoletti, “Properties,” in _The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy_, ed. Edward N. Zalta, Spring 2022 (Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2022), [https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2022/entries/properties/](https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2022/entries/properties/). * Nikk Effingham, _An Introduction to Ontology_ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013). * Simon Hewitt, “A Cardinal Worry for Permissive Metaontology,” _Metaphysica_ 16, no. 2 (September 18, 2015): 159–65, [https://doi.org/10.1515/mp-2015-0009](https://doi.org/10.1515/mp-2015-0009).