A simplistic definition of "ontology"
hovy@isi.edu (Eduard Hovy)
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Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 08:41:22 -0500
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From: hovy@isi.edu (Eduard Hovy)
Subject: A simplistic definition of "ontology"
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Just to stir up some blood:
An ontology is a collection of symbols that represent (i.e., name) some
set of phenomena in the "external world" within a computer (or possibly
within other, non-implemented, systems, although who knows what that
would be interesting for). Typically, the phenomena include objects
and processes and states, and typically, these entities are related
among themselves; usually, the ontology names (some of) these relations.
E
>At 7:49 PM 10/3/95 +0100, Nicola Guarino wrote:
>>"An ontology is a specification of the indended models of a logical language".
>
>At 11:34 AM 10/4/95, Pat Hayes wrote:
>Fine, as long as we don't forget that the models usually will include
>'nonstandard' models which we *didnt* intend, so we shouldnt assume that
>constructing an ontology somehow fully captures an idea.
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Eduard Hovy
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