Editing Ontology (section)

== Branches ==
There are different and sometimes overlapping ways to divide ontology into branches. Pure ontology focuses on the most abstract topics associated with the concept and nature of being. It is not restricted to a specific domain of entities and studies existence and the structure of reality as a whole.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Jacquette|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NmPfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PR11 xi–xii]}} | {{harvnb|Sadegh-Zadeh|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YenvCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA384 384]}} }}</ref> Pure ontology contrasts with [[applied ontology]], also called domain ontology. Applied ontology examines the application of ontological theories and principles to specific disciplines and domains, often in the field of science.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Jacquette|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NmPfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PR11 xi–xii]}} | {{harvnb|Smith|Klagges|2008|p=21}} | {{harvnb|Sadegh-Zadeh|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YenvCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA384 384]}} }}</ref> It considers ontological problems in regard to specific entities such as [[matter]], [[mind]], [[number]]s, [[God]], and cultural artifacts.<ref>{{harvnb|Jacquette|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NmPfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PR12 xii–xiii]}}</ref>

[[Social ontology]], a major subfield of applied ontology, studies social kinds, like [[money]], [[gender]], [[society]], and [[language]]. It aims to determine the nature and essential features of these concepts while also examining their mode of existence.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Epstein|2024|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Tuomela|Hakli|Mäkelä|2020|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=P23cDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT9 § 1. Background to Social Ontology]}} }}</ref> According to a common view, social kinds are useful constructions to describe the complexities of social life. This means that they are not pure fictions but, at the same time, lack the objective or mind-independent reality of natural phenomena like elementary particles, lions, and stars.<ref>{{multiref|{{harvnb|Ney|2014|pp=259–263}}|{{harvnb|Rea|2021|pp=185–186}}}}</ref> In the fields of [[computer science]], [[information science]], and [[knowledge representation]], applied ontology is interested in the development of formal frameworks to encode and store information about a limited domain of entities in a structured way.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Smith|Klagges|2008|p=21}} | {{harvnb|Hawley|2016|pp=168–170}} }}</ref> A related application in [[genetics]] is [[Gene Ontology]], which is a comprehensive framework for the standardized representation of gene-related information across species and databases.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Smith|Klagges|2008|pp=35–36}} | {{harvnb|Haritha|Priyatharshini|Abishek|Kiran|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LcpmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA489 489]}} }}</ref>

[[Formal ontology]] is the study of objects in general while focusing on their abstract structures and features. It divides objects into different categories based on the forms they exemplify. Formal ontologists often rely on the tools of [[formal logic]] to express their findings in an abstract and general manner.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hennig|2008|pp=43–44}} | {{harvnb|Hakkarainen|Keinänen|2023|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1oHZEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 1–2]}} | {{harvnb|Albertazzi|1996|p=199}} }}</ref>{{efn|The idea of formal ontology was first formulated by phenomenologist [[Edmund Husserl]], who studied objects in general by relying on fundamental categories such as unity, plurality, state of affairs, part, and whole. He examined the relations between these categories and how they depend on one another.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Albertazzi|1996|pp=199, 206}} | {{harvnb|Hennig|2008|pp=43–44}} }}</ref>}} Formal ontology contrasts with material ontology, which distinguishes between different areas of objects and examines the features characteristic of a specific area.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Albertazzi|1996|pp=199–200}} | {{harvnb|Poli|Simons|1996|pp=vii–viii}} | {{harvnb|Hakkarainen|Keinänen|2023|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1oHZEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 9]}} }}</ref> Examples are ideal spatial beings in the area of geometry and living beings in the area of biology.<ref>{{harvnb|Hakkarainen|Keinänen|2023|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1oHZEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 9]}}</ref>

Descriptive ontology aims to articulate the conceptual scheme underlying how people ordinarily think about the world. Prescriptive ontology departs from common conceptions of the structure of reality and seeks to formulate a new and better conceptualization.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Berto|Plebani|2015|pp=35–36}} | {{harvnb|Phillips|1967|pp=105–106}} | {{harvnb|Haack|1979|pp=361–362}} }}</ref>

Another contrast is between analytic and speculative ontology. Analytic ontology examines the types and categories of being to determine what kinds of things could exist and what features they would have. Speculative ontology aims to determine which entities actually exist, for example, whether there are numbers or whether time is an illusion.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Coggins|2010|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tBh_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 93]}} | {{harvnb|Lehrer|1993|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=w590r7cZ8TsC&pg=PR11 xi]}} }}</ref>

[[File:Heidegger 3 (1960).jpg|thumb|upright=.8|[[Martin Heidegger]] proposed fundamental ontology to study the meaning of being.]]

[[Metaontology]] studies the underlying concepts, assumptions, and methods of ontology. Unlike other forms of ontology, it does not ask "what exists" but "what does it mean for something to exist" and "how can people determine what exists".<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Berto|Plebani|2015|p=2}} | {{harvnb|Göhner|Steinbrink|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FuBLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 42, 52–53]}} }}</ref> It is closely related to [[fundamental ontology]], an approach developed by philosopher [[Martin Heidegger]] that seeks to uncover the meaning of being.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Wheeler|2020|loc=§ 2.2.1 The Question}} | {{harvnb|Schalow|2019|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nJ27DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA139 139]}} }}</ref>