What is Ontology? Definition, Concept, and Examples

Ontology is basically a study conducted in the field of philosophy which provides insights related to nature and being.

Studies related to the goals of social science and the benefits of social science in this explanation are of course related to reality and are often presented with questions such as ‘ what is the meaning of existence? ‘ or ‘ what can be said there? ‘.

On this basis, what also becomes the first branch is ontology, namely  ‘the study of being ‘ which is always related to what actually exists in the world where humans can obtain knowledge.

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Ontology

Ontology in Greek, meaning ‘ study ,  theory , or  science of being ‘, is concerned with that which exists. Therefore, ontology is a branch of philosophy whose existence for the first time determines knowledge. It is for this reason that all of the ancient Greek philosophers dealt with ontology.

Even pre-Socratic philosophers were ontologists trying to determine what is and what is not. For example, Empedocles (who lived from 490 to 430 BC) said that there are four universal elements (earth, water, fire and air) that are moved by force, love and hate. All things in the world are born from the relationship of these six entities.

Meanwhile, the ontologists Aristotle (who lived from 384 to 322 BC) and Plato (who lived from 428 to 348 BC) classified these entities into groups and tried to identify common characteristics.

Definition of Ontology

Ontology is a fundamental branch of philosophy that always studies the presence or absence of something and moreover how existing objects relate to one another.

It is for this reason that, like all branches of philosophy, it can relate to various fields of knowledge. For example, in this case, medical ontology looks deeply at what disease is, what characteristics it has, and how we interpret it.

Legal ontology examines the characteristics of law and what differentiates it from other systems, such as customs. Recently, the ontology of computer science has been growing rapidly. It studies the entities that exist within the field of computer science and how they relate to one another.

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Understanding Ontology According to Experts

The definition of ontology according to experts, among others:

1. Aristotle , Ontology is a series of discussions about things that exist as things that exist (things that exist as such) experience changes in, in relation to their objects.
2. Bakhtiar , The definition of ontology is as a science that discusses the essence of what exists, as an  ultimate reality  that has physical or concrete form as well as spiritual or abstract.
3. Suriasumantri  , The meaning of ontology is the science of what we want to know, how far we want to know, or in other words a study of the theory of existence.

Concept of Questions in Ontology

The series of questions posed by ontology are some of the oldest questions posed by mankind. For example, for some of the following concepts;

1. Does God exist?
2. Are there ideas, memories and emotions?
3. Does that number exist?
4. And, if God, memory, or numbers exist, how does this relate to a tree or a rock?

This kind of question is not an easy one to answer. So to study these concepts, ontology divides all things into two broad groups:

1. Concrete Entities : such as trees or rocks
2. Abstract Entities : such as God or ideas

So from the list of questions it is logically impossible to study the two types of entities in the same way because they both have different characteristics.

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Types of Ontology Studies 

There are at least two dominant positions in the ontology. That is;

1. Realism : The researcher views the world as separate from humans and human interpretations of it.
2. Nominalism : Researchers believe that their interpretation of the world is based on their inner subjectivity and the personal ‘lens’ they see through.

Ontology example

Examples of studies in relation to language and ontology. Among others;

1. Ontology and language

Some philosophers argue that the question “What is that?” is (at least in part) a matter of questions of fact. This perspective is conveyed by an analogy made by Donald Davidson:

Suppose someone refers to ‘cup’ as ‘chair’ and makes a few comments relating to the cup, but uses the word ‘chair’ consistently instead of ‘cup’. One might immediately understand that this person refers to ‘cup’ as ‘chair’ and the oddity is explained.

By analogy, if we find people who claim such-and-such ‘is’, and we don’t think that such-and-such exists ourselves, we might conclude that these people are not crazy (Davidson calls this assumption ‘charity’), they simply use ‘is’ differently than we do . What is that question? it is at least partly a topic within the philosophy of language, and not strictly about ontology itself.

2. Ontology and human geography

In human geography there are two types of ontologies: a small “ o ” which describes a practical orientation, describes the function of being part of a group, is considered too simplistic and ignores the main activity. The other “ O ”, or the big “ O ”, systematically, logically, and rationally describes the essential characteristics and universal properties.

This concept is closely related to Plato’s view that human minds can only see the bigger world if they continue to live within the confines of their “cave”. However, despite these differences, ontology depends on symbolic agreement among members. That said, ontology is very important for an axiomatic language framework.

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That is the article that we can present to all people regarding  the notion of ontology  according to experts, concepts, types of studies, and examples in various fields. Hope this gives some insight to everyone.