On What Goes On: The Ontology of Processes and Events
Antony Galton
In Brandon Bennett and Christiane Fellbaum (eds.),
Formal Ontology in Information Systems: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference (FOIS2006),
IOS Press, 2006, pages 4-11
ISBN 1-58603-685-8
Abstract
The purpose of this talk is to advocate a particular way of thinking
about processes and their relationship to objects and events. The
point of view put forward is unorthodox in that it regards processes
as being in some ways more closely akin to objects than to events,
specifically with regard to their relationship to the directly
experienced world and their capacity for undergoing change over time.
A consequence of this is that the traditional distinction between
continuants and occurrents becomes overshadowed by a more prominent
distinction, that between the world of direct experience (made up of,
inter alia, objects and processes) and the world of historical
record (made up of events). In conclusion, a number of remarks are
offered concerning the implications of this shift of viewpoint for
formal ontology.
This was presented as a keynote talk at FOIS2006.
Here are the slides.
Antony Galton
Last modified: Mon Nov 13 09:47:47 GMT 2006