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Ontology was once understood to be the philosophical inquiry into the structure of reality: the analysis and categorization of 'what there is'. Recently, however, a field called 'ontology' has become part of the rapidly growing research industry in information technology. The two fields have more in common than just their name.
Theory and Applications of Ontology is a two-volume anthology that aims to further an informed discussion about the relationship between ontology in philosophy and ontology in information technology. It fills an important lacuna in cutting-edge research on ontology in both fields, supplying stage-setting overview articles on history and method, presenting directions of current research in either field, and highlighting areas of productive interdisciplinary contact.
Theory and Applications of Ontology: Computer Applications presents ontology in ways that philosophers are not likely to find elsewhere. The volume offers an overview of current research in ontology, distinguishing basic conceptual issues, domain applications, general frameworks, and mathematical formalisms. It introduces the reader to current research on frameworks and applications in information technology in ways that are sure to invite reflection and constructive responses from ontologists in philosophy.
List of contents
The Interplay Between Ontology as Categorial Analysis and Ontology as Technology.- Ontological Architectures.- Organization and Management of Large Categorical Systems.- The Information Flow Approach to Ontology-Based Semantic Alignment.- Ontological Evaluation and Validation.- Tools for Ontology Engineering and Management.- Ontological Tools: Requirements, Design Issues and Perspectives.- Using the Unified Foundational Ontology (UFO) as a Foundation for General Conceptual Modeling Languages.- Lightweight Ontologies.- WordNet.- Controlled English to Logic Translation.- Cyc.- Ontological Foundations of dolce.- General Formal Ontology (GFO): A Foundational Ontology for Conceptual Modelling.- Ontologies in Biology.- The Ontology of Medical Terminological Systems: Towards the Next Generation of Medical Ontologies.- Ontologies of Language and Language Processing.- Business Ontologies.- Ontologies for E-government.- An Ontology-Driven Approach and a Context Management Framework for Ubiquitous Computing Applications.- Category Theory as a Mathematics for Formalizing Ontologies.- Issues of Logic, Algebra and Topology in Ontology.- The Institutional Approach.- Ontology Engineering, Universal Algebra, and Category Theory.
About the author
Roberto Poli (B.A. in sociology, with honors, Ph.D. on ontology for knowledge engineers, Utrecht) is editor-in-chief of Axiomathes (Springer), a peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the study of ontology and cognitive systems, editor of Categories (Ontos), and member of the Academic Board of Directors of the Metanexus Institute, Philadelphia. His research interests include (1) ontology, in both its traditional philosophical understanding and the new, computer-oriented, understanding, (2) the theory of values and the concept of person and (3) anticipatory systems, i.e. system able to take decisions according to their possible future development.
Summary
Ontology was once understood to be the philosophical inquiry into the structure of reality: the analysis and categorization of ‘what there is’. Recently, however, a field called ‘ontology’ has become part of the rapidly growing research industry in information technology. The two fields have more in common than just their name.
Theory and Applications of Ontology is a two-volume anthology that aims to further an informed discussion about the relationship between ontology in philosophy and ontology in information technology. It fills an important lacuna in cutting-edge research on ontology in both fields, supplying stage-setting overview articles on history and method, presenting directions of current research in either field, and highlighting areas of productive interdisciplinary contact.
Theory and Applications of Ontology: Computer Applications presents ontology in ways that philosophers are not likely to find elsewhere. The volume offers an overview of current research in ontology, distinguishing basic conceptual issues, domain applications, general frameworks, and mathematical formalisms. It introduces the reader to current research on frameworks and applications in information technology in ways that are sure to invite reflection and constructive responses from ontologists in philosophy.
Additional text
From the reviews:
“This book is actually the second volume in a two-volume set on theory and applications of ontology. This volume emphasizes computer applications … . The 24 chapters are grouped into four main clusters. … This book is an important contribution to the literature.” (Anthony J. Duben, ACM Computing Reviews, January, 2013)
Report
From the reviews:
"This book is actually the second volume in a two-volume set on theory and applications of ontology. This volume emphasizes computer applications ... . The 24 chapters are grouped into four main clusters. ... This book is an important contribution to the literature." (Anthony J. Duben, ACM Computing Reviews, January, 2013)
