1 snap and span barry smith and pierre grenon university at buffalo and institute for formal...
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SNAP and SPANBarry Smith and Pierre Grenon
University at Buffaloand
Institute for Formal Ontology and Medical Information Science (ifomis.de)
University of Leipzig
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Formal Ontology
= domain-neutral
Examples of categories:
Substance, Process, Agent, Property, Relation, Location, Spatial Region
Part-of, Boundary-of
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Material Ontology
= regional or domain-specific ontology, e.g. GeO
Examples of categories:
River, Mountain, Country, Desert …
Resides-In, Is-to-the-West-of
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Realist Perspectivalism
There is a multiplicity of ontological perspectives on reality, all equally veridical and transparent to reality
vs. Reductionism: “Only my preferred perspective on reality is veridical”
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Realist Perspectivalism
Perspectivalism: all views are ontologically admissible.
Realist Perspectivalism: only those perspectives are admissible that are transparent to reality
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Need for different perspectives
Double counting:
3 apples on the table7 x 1016 molecules at spatial locations L1, L2 and L3
Not one ontology, but a multiplicity of complementary ontologies
Cf. Quantum mechanics: particle vs. wave ontologies
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Cardinal Perspectives
Formal vs. Material Ontologies
Granularity (Micro vs. Meso vs. Macro)
SNAP vs. SPAN
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Cardinal Perspectives
Formal vs. Material Ontologies
Granularity (Micro vs. Meso vs. Macro)
Time: SNAP vs. SPAN
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Endurants and perdurants
Substances and processesContinuants and occurrents
In preparing an inventory of realitywe keep track of these two different categories of entities in two different ways (stocks vs. flows)
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Endurants vs. perdurants
Endurants- have continuous existence in time- preserve their identity through change- exist in toto if they exist at all
Perdurants- have temporal parts- unfold themselves through time- exist only in their phases/stages
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Substances do not have temporal parts
The first 5-minute phase of my existence is not a temporal part of me It is a temporal part of that complex process which is my life
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How do you know whether an entity endures or
perdures?
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SNAP vs. SPAN
1. SNAP: a SNAPshot ontology of endurants existing at a time
2. SPAN: a four-dimensionalist ontology of processes
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Other SPQR… entities:
functions, dispositions, plans, shapes
SPQR… entities are all dependent on substances
relations
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Examples of simple SNAP ontologies 3
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They are windows on just that portion of reality which is visible through the given ontology (… Pat Hayes …)
SNAP and SPAN ontologies are partial only
(Realist perspectivalism)
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SPAN: Entities extended in time
SPANEntity extended in time
Portion of Spacetime
Fiat part of process *First phase of a clinical trial
Spacetime worm of 3 + Tdimensions
occupied by life of organism
Temporal interval *projection of organism’s life
onto temporal dimension
Aggregate of processes *Clinical trial
Process[±Relational]
Circulation of blood,secretion of hormones,course of disease, life
Processual Entity[Exists in space and time, unfolds
in time phase by phase]
Temporal boundary ofprocess *
onset of disease, death
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Rule: Respect Granularity
spatial region qualitysubstance
parts of spatial regions are always spatial regions
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Relations crossing the SNAP/SPAN border are not
part-relations
John’s lifesubstance John
physiological processes
sustaining in existence
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Relations between SNAP and SPAN
SNAP-entities participate in processes; they have lives, histories.
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SPQR… entities and their SPAN realizations
the expression of a functionthe exercise of a rolethe execution of a planthe realization of a dispositionthe application of a therapy
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SPQR… entities and their SPAN realizations
expression exercise execution realization application
SPAN
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Temporal Co-Incidence
x
y
SNAP-t
At time t, colony of bacteria in the throat.
time
SPANMigration of a colony of bacteriafrom the mouth to the small intestine.
B
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Projections
proce
ss
material region spatial region
participants
spatio
-tempora
l region
SNAPti
SPAN
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SNAP-SPAN relations (3)
Ontological dependence.
Some forms of participation:
-initiation, termination
-creation, destruction
-sustenance, degradation
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An adequate ontology of geography has to have those three basic categories:
1. Geographical Objects
2. Geographical Attributes
3. Places, Niches, Environments
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An adequate ontology of geography has to have those three categories:
1. Fields
2. Fields Attributes
3. Spatial Regions
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An adequate ontology of geography has to have those two categories:
1. Processual Entities
2. Space-Time Worms
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Relations in GeO
Of course, all the Basic Formal Relations obtain here.
There are GeO specific relations or GeO specifics forms of Basic Formal Relations.
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Relations in GeO
Forms of geo-spatial location-orientation (east of, etc.)-field elements-geographical location (projection on Earth's surface, 2-D)-geo-spatial location (with
considerations of altitude, 3-D)
Relations defined based on participation in specific geographical processes.
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Geographical Changes
Some types of processes:
-Movements (location change)
-Substantial Change
-Property Change