¿Qué es una categoría ontológica?

Peter van Inwagen

doi:10.5281/zenodo.4718572

Peter van Inwagen University of Notre Dame, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4718572

Keywords: Ontology, Category, Natural Class, Taxonomy

Abstract

In this article, I examine the concept of a natural class and propose a definition of "ontological category" in terms of that concept. Let's say a class is "large" if its membership comprises a significant proportion of the things which are there. Let's say a class is "high" if it is not a proper subclass of any natural class. Then a natural class is a primary ontological category if and only if (a) there are large natural classes, and (b) it is a high class. (Secondary, tertiary, etc., ontological categories are defined by an extension of this definition). I defend the definition, consider various ways in which it might be modified, and apply it to the problem of constructing a taxonomy of ontologies.

Author Biography

Peter van Inwagen, University of Notre Dame, USA

Peter van Inwagen is the John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at the University of Notre Dame, USA. Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Rochester. While he works in a wide variety of areas of philosophy, much of his work has been in metaphysics, the philosophy of action, and the philosophy of religion. He was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2005. He is author of the Thinking about Free Will (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2017); Existence: Essays in Ontology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2014); The Problem of Evil (Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2006), or Ontology, Identity, and Modality: Essays in Metaphysics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2002).

References

van Inwagen, Peter (1998). “Meta-ontology.” Erkenntnis 48: 233–250.

van Inwagen, Peter (2009). “Being, Existence, and Ontological Commitment.” In Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology, edited by David J. Chalmers, David Manley and RyanWasserman. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 472–506

van Inwagen, Peter (2010). Ontology, Identity, and Modality: Essays in Metaphysics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

van Inwagen, Peter (2012). “Relational vs. Constituent Ontologies.” In Metaphysics, edited by John Hawthorne and Jason Turner (Philosophical Perspectives 26). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 389–405

van Inwagen, Peter (2014). Existence. Essays in Ontology. New York: Cambridge University Press.

What is an Ontological Category?

Abstract

Author Biography

References

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