]> Barry Smith and Pierre Grenon: "The Cornucopia of Formal Ontological Relations" application/rdf+xml Pierre Grenon and Barry Smith: "SNAP and SPAN: Towards Geospatial Dynamics" Barry Smith: "Basic Tools of Formal Ontology" Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) http://www.ifomis.org/bfo/1.0 Pierre Grenon: "Nuts in BFO's Nutshell: Revisions to the Bi-categorial Axiomatization of BFO" Pierre Grenon, Barry Smith and Louis Goldberg: "Biodynamic Ontology: Applying BFO in the Biomedical Domain" en 1.0 Barry Smith: "Beyond Concepts: Ontology as Reality Representation" Institute for Formal Ontology and Medical Information Science (IFOMIS) Barry Smith: "Against Fantology" Pierre Grenon: "BFO in a Nutshell: A Bi-categorial Axiomatization of BFO and Comparison with DOLCE" 2007-05-08 The Basic Formal Ontology, an upper level ontology. Andrew Spear Holger Stenzhorn Pierre Grenon: "Spatio-temporality in Basic Formal Ontology: SNAP and SPAN, Upper-Level Ontology, and Framework for Formalization" entity continuant Examples: a heart, a person, the color of a tomato, the mass of a cloud, a symphony orchestra, the disposition of blood to coagulate, the lawn and atmosphere in front of our building Synonyms: endurant Definition: An entity that exists in full at any time in which it exists at all, persists through time while maintaining its identity and has no temporal parts. dependent_continuant Synonyms: property, trope, mode Examples: the mass of a cloud, the smell of mozzarella, the liquidity of blood, the color of a tomato, the disposition of fish to decay, the role of being a doctor, the function of the heart to pump blood Definition: A continuant that inheres in or is borne by other entities. disposition Definition: A realizable entity that essentially causes a specific process or transformation in the object in which it inheres, under specific circumstances and in conjunction with the laws of nature. A general formula for dispositions is: X (object) has the disposition D to (transform, initiate a process) R under conditions C. Examples: the disposition of vegetables to decay when not refrigerated, the disposition of a vase to brake if dropped, the disposition of blood to coagulate, the disposition of a patient with a weakened immune system to contract disease, the disposition of metal to conduct electricity. fiat_object_part Synonyms: fiat substance part Examples: upper and lower lobes of the left lung, the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the body, the east side of Saarbruecken, the lower right portion of a human torso Definition: An independent continuant that is part of an object but is not demarcated by any physical discontinuities. function Examples: the function of a birth canal to enable transport, the function of the heart in the body to pump blood, the function of reproduction in the transmission of genetic material, the digestive function of the stomach to nutriate the body, the function of a hammer to drive in nails, the function of a computer program to compute mathematical equations, the function of an automobile to provide transportation, the function of a judge in a court of law Definition: A realizable entity the manifestation of which is an essentialy end-directed activity of a continuant entity in virtue of that continuant entity being a specific kind of entity in the kind or kinds of contexts that it is made for. independent_continuant Definition: A continuant that is a bearer of qualities and realizable entities, in which other entities inhere and which itself cannot inhere in anything. Examples: an organism, a heart, a leg, a person, a symphony orchestra, a chair, the bottom right portion of a human torso, the lawn and atmosphere in front of our building Synonyms: substantial entity object Examples: an organism, a heart, a chair, a lung, an apple Synonyms: substance Definition: A independent continuant that is spatially extended, maximally self-connected and self-contained (the parts of a substance are not separated from each other by spatial gaps) and possesses an internal unity. The identity of substantial objects is independent of that of other entities and can be maintained through time and through loss and gain of parts and qualities. object_aggregate Examples: a heap of stones, a group of commuters on the subway, a collection of random bacteria, a flock of geese, the patients in a hospital Synonyms: substance aggregate Definition: An independent continuant that is a mereological sum of separate objects and possesses non-connected boundaries. object_boundary Examples: the surface of the skin, the surface of the earth, the surface of the interior of the stomach, the outer surface of a cell or cell wall Synonyms: substance boundary Comment: Boundaries are theoretically difficult entities to account for, however the intuitive notion of a physical boundary as a surface of some sort (whether inside or outside of a thing) will generally serve as a good guide for the use of this universal. Definition: An independent continuant that is a lower dimensional part of a spatial entity, normally a closed two-dimensional surface. Boundaries are those privileged parts of objects that exist at exactly the point where the object is separated off from the rest of the existing entities in the world. one_dimensional_region Definition: A spatial region with one dimension. Examples: the part of space that is a line stretching from one end of absolute space to the other, an edge of a cube-shaped part of space quality Examples: the color of a tomato, the ambient temperature of air, the circumference of a waist, the shape of a nose, the mass of a piece of gold, the weight of a chimpanzee Definition: A dependent continuant that is exhibited if it inheres in an entity or entities at all (a categorical property). realizable_entity Definition: A dependent continuant that inheres in continuants and are not exhibited in full at every time in which it inheres in an entity or group of entities. The exhibition or actualization of a realizable entity is a particular manifestation, functioning or process that occurs under certain circumstances. Examples: the role of being a doctor, the function of the reproductive organs, the disposition of blood to coagulate, the disposition of metal to conduct electricity role Definition: A realizable entity the manifestation of which brings about some result or end that is not essential to a continuant in virtue of the kind of thing that it is but that can be served or participated in by that kind of continuant in some kinds of natural, social or institutional contexts. Examples: the role of a person as a surgeon, the role of an artificial heart in pumping blood, the role of a chemical compound in an experiment, the role of a drug in the treatment of a disease, the role of a patient relative as defined by a hospital administrative form, the role of a woman as a legal mother in the context of system of laws, the role of a biological grandfather as legal guardian in the context of a system of laws, the role of a tree in maintaining stability in an ecosystem, the role of ingested matter in digestion site Examples: a city, a nasal cavity, a blood vein, an environment, sinuses, canals, ventricles, the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract, the location of the battle of Austerlitz, the interior of the aorta, the room in which one is located, the top of one's desk including the things that are on it and the atmosphere surrounding them. Definition: An independent continuant consisting of a characteristic spatial shape in relation to some arrangement of other continuants and of the medium which is enclosed in whole or in part by this characteristic spatial shape. Sites are entities that can be occupied by other continuants. Comment: Sites should not be confused with spatial regions. Sites characteristically have a filling or medium and are capable of altering their spatial location (moving from one spatial region to another) without altering their identity. spatial_region Definition: An independent continuant that is neither bearer of qualities nor inheres in any other entities. Examples: the sum total of all space in the universe, parts of the sum total of all space in the universe Comment: Spatial regions should not be confused with sites. Spatial regions exist as parts of pure or absolute space, have a dimensionality and a shape but require no filling in order to exist and are also immobile. three_dimensional_region Examples: a cube-shaped part of space, a sphere-shaped part of space Definition: A spatial region with three dimensions. two_dimensional_region Examples: the surface of a cube-shaped part of space, the surface of a sphere-shaped part of space, the surface of a rectilinear planar figure-shaped part of space Definition: A spatial region with two dimensions. zero_dimensional_region Definition: A spatial region with no dimensions. Examples: a point connected_spatiotemporal_region Definition: A space time region that has temporal and spatial dimensions such that all points within the spatiotemporal region are mediately or immediately connected to all other points within the same space time region. Examples: the spatial and temporal location of an individual organism's life, the spatial and temporal location of the development of a fetus connected_temporal_region Examples: the 1970s years, the time from the beginning to the end of a heart attack, the time taken up by cellular meiosis Definition: A temporal region every point of which is mediately or immediately connected with every other point of which. fiat_process_part Definition: A processual entity that is part of a process but that does not have bona fide beginnings and endings corresponding to real discontinuities. Examples: chewing during a meal, the middle part of a rainstorm, the worst part of a heart-attack, the most interesting part of Van Gogh's life occurrent Synonyms: perdurant Examples: the life of an organism, a surgical operation as processual context for a nosocomical infection, the spatiotemporal context occupied by a process of cellular meiosis, the most interesting part of Van Gogh's life, the spatiotemporal region occupied by the development of a cancer tumor Definition: An entity that has temporal parts and that happens, unfolds or develops through time. Sometimes also called perdurants. process Definition: A processual entity that is a maximally connected spatio-temporal whole and has bona fide beginnings and endings corresponding to real discontinuities. Examples: the life of an organism, the process of sleeping, the process of cell-division process_aggregate Examples: the beating of the hearts of each of seven individuals in the room, the playing of each of the members of an orchestra, a process of digestion and a process of thinking taken together Definition: A processual entity that is a meriological sum of processes and possesses non-connected boundaries. process_boundary Definition: A processual entity that is the fiat or bona fide instantaneous temporal process boundary. Examples: birth, death, the forming of a synapse, the onset of REM sleep, the detaching of a finger in an industrial accident, the final separation of two cells at the end of cell-division, the incision at the beginning of a surgery processual_context Comment: setting Examples: a surgical operation as processual context for a nosocomical infection, a routine check-up as processual context for the finding of a tumor, a clinical trial as processual context for the discovery of a new treatment or drug Definition: An occurrent consisting of a characteristic spatial shape inhering in some arrangement of other occurrents. Processual contexts are characteristically entities at or in which other occurrents can be located or occur. processual_entity Examples: the life of an organism, the process of meiosis, the course of a disease, the flight of a bird Definition: An occurrent that exists in time by occurring or happening, has temporal parts and always involves and depends on some entity. scattered_spatiotemporal_region Examples: the space and time occupied by the individual games of the World Cup, the space and time occupied by the individual liaisons in a romantic affair Definition: A space time region that has spatial and temporal dimensions and every spatial and temporal point of which is not connected with every other spatial and temporal point of which. scattered_temporal_region Definition: A temporal region every point of which is not mediately or immediately connected with every other point of which. Examples: the time occupied by the individual games of the World Cup, the time occupied by the individual liaisons in a romantic affair spatiotemporal_instant Definition: A connected space time region at a specific moment. Examples: the space time region occupied by a single instantaneous temporal slice (part) of a process spatiotemporal_interval Definition: A connected space time region that endures for more than a single moment of time. Examples: the space time region occupied by a process or by a fiat processual part spatiotemporal_region Comment: This is the time and space within which occurrents exist. Occurrents exist in space and time in a different way from that in which continuants do and thus the space and time in which they exist is itself different. Spatiotemporal region's importance is primarily theoretical and it will not be used often in most domain ontology applications. Examples: the spatiotemporal region occupied by a human life, the spatiotemporal region occupied by the development of a cancer tumor, the spatiotemporal context occupied by a process of cellular meiosis Definition: An occurrent at or in which processual entities can be located. temporal_instant Definition: A connected temporal region comprising a single moment of time. Examples: right now, the moment at which a finger is detached in an industrial accident, the moment at which a child is born, the moment of death temporal_interval Examples: any continuous temporal duration during which a process occurs Definition: A connected temporal region lasting for more than a single moment of time. temporal_region Examples: the time it takes to run a marathon, the duration of a surgical procedure, the moment of death Comment: This is the time that is common to both SNAP and SPAN entities. The time of temporal region and its sub-classes will normally be the time that should be referred to when sub-classing universals having to do with time in an ontology. Definition: An occurrent that is part of time.