Ontology: Difference between revisions

'''Ontology''' is the philosophical study of being. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of [[reality]] and every [[entity]] within it. To articulate the basic structure of being, ontology examines what all entitiesthings have in common. andIt also investigates how they arecan dividedbe grouped into fundamentalbasic classestypes, knownsuch as the [[Theory of categories|categories]]. An influential distinction is betweenof [[particular]]s and [[Universal (metaphysics)|universaluniversals]] entities. Particulars are unique, non-repeatable entities, like the person [[Socrates]]. Universals are general, repeatable entities, like the color ''green''. Another contrast is between [[Abstract and concrete|concrete]] objects existing in space and time, like a tree, and abstract objects existing outside space and time, like the number 7. Systems of categories aim to provide a comprehensive inventory of reality, employing categories such as [[Substance theory|substance]], [[Property (philosophy)|property]], [[Relation (philosophy)|relation]], [[State of affairs (philosophy)|state of affairs]], and [[Event (philosophy)|event]].