Conceptual Modeling and Ontological Analysis

Table of Contents

Conceptual Modeling and Ontological Analysis

Objectives

Introduction

• An Interdisciplinary Approach
• Summary
• Ontology and ontologies
  • What is Ontology
  • Definitions
  • What is an ontology?
• Models and Conceptualizations
  • Capturing Intended Meaning
  • Intended Models
  • What is a conceptualization?
  • What is a conceptualization?
  • What is a conceptualization
  • Relations vs. Conceptual Relations
• Ontologies constrain the intended meaning
• Levels of Ontological Depth
• Our Framework: Ontology-Driven Conceptual Modeling
  • Formal Ontology
  • Approach
  • Framework
  • From Ontology to Data

Formal Ontological Analysis

• Mereology
  • Mereology
  • The problems with General Extensional Mereology
  • Part, Constitution, and Identity
• Identity, Unity, Essence
  • Framework
  • Identity, Rigidity, Unity
  • Identity and Unity
  • Essence and rigidity
    • Intuitive Rigidity
    • Formal Rigidity
  • Identity and identity criteria
    • Synchronic Identity Criteria
    • Diachronic Identity
    • A priori identity?
    • Identity criteria
    • Necessary ICs
    • Sufficient ICs
    • Identity Meta-Properties
    • Local Identity?
  • Unity and Unity Criteria
    • Unity Analysis
    • Unity analysisand Mereotopology
    • Unity Conditions
    • Conditions for Unity
    • Unity and Plurality*
    • Unity Meta-Properties
  • Disjointness Theorem
  • Examples of identity and unity conditions
  • Dependence
    • Dependence Analysis
    • Dependence Meta-Properties
  • Using the meta-properties
    • Framework
    • Motivation
    • Resolving known Differences
    • Exposing Unknown Differences
• Property Kinds
  • Framework
  • Basic Property kinds
    • Sortals, categories, and other properties
    • A formal ontology of properties
    • Basic Property Kinds Table
  • Further Property Kinds: Common ICs/UCs
    • Ontological Levels
    • Identity and unity conditions
• Ontology-driven Modeling Principles
  • Framework
  • Re-visiting abstraction relationships
  • Taxonomic relationships
    • Subsumption Misused
    • Assumptions
    • Taxonomic Constraints
    • Impact of taxonomic constraints on ontology design *
    • Type and Role specialization*
    • Backbone Taxonomy

An extended example

• Framework
• Example Taxonomy
• Assign Meta-Properties
  • Property AnalysisEntity, Location
  • Property AnalysisAmount of Matter, Red
  • Property AnalysisAgent, Group
  • Property AnalysisPhysical Object, Living Being
  • Property AnalysisFood, Animal
  • Property AnalysisLegal Agent, Group of People
  • Property AnalysisSocial Entity, Organization
  • Property AnalysisFruit
  • Property AnalysisApple, Red Apple
  • Property AnalysisVertebrate, Person
  • Property AnalysisButterfly, Caterpillar
  • Property AnalysisCountry
• Analyze Taxonomic Links
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  • Backbone Taxonomy
  • Final Taxonomy

Abstraction Relationships

• Membership relationships
  • Framework
  • Singular vs. Plural
  • The Instance-of Relation (1)
  • The Instance-of Relation (2)
• Part-whole relationships
  • Part-of vs. part-whole relations

Framework

A Minimal Top-level Ontology

Well-Founded Ontologies:Some Basic Design Principles

Ontologists Wanted!

FOIS 2001 Formal Ontology in Information Systems

Email: weltyc@cs.vassar.edu

Home Page: http://www.cs.vassar.edu/faculty/welty/

Other information:
These are the slides presented at the AAAI-2000 Tutorial on Conceptual Modeling and Ontological Analysis (MP-2). July 31, 2000

Download presentation source in [Powerpoint] or [PDF].