Weak ontology
Encyclopedia
The term weak ontology has unrelated meanings in computer science
and political theory.
is one that is not sufficiently rigorous to allow software to infer new facts without an intervention by human beings (the end users of the software system).
This distinction does not apply to the philosophical term
, because in philosophy all inference is performed by human beings. Accordingly, from the point of view of computer science
, philosophers do only weak ontology, except to the degree that their work converges with mathematics
, Boolean logic
, and other subfields in which automatic reasoning is known to be possible.
By this standard – which evolved as artificial intelligence
methods became more sophisticated, and computers were used to model high human impact decisions – most database
s use weak ontologies.
A weak ontology is adequate for many purposes, including education
, where one teaches a set of distinctions and trying to induce the power to make those distinctions in the student. Stronger ontologies only tend to evolve as the weaker ones prove deficient. This phenomenon of ontology becoming stronger over time parallels observations in folk taxonomy
about taxonomy
: as a society practices more labour specialization, it tends to become intolerant of confusions and mixed metaphors, and sorts them into formal profession
s or practices. Ultimately, these are expected to reason about them in common, with mathematics, especially statistics
and logic
, as the common ground.
On the World Wide Web
, folksonomy
in the form of tag schema
s and typed link
s has tended to evolve slowly in a variety of forums, and then be standardized in such schemes as microformats
as more and more forums agree. These weak ontology constructs only become strong in response to growing demands for a more powerful form of search engine
than is possible with keywording.
approach that seeks to avoid foundationalist commitments. The term was first used in this context by Stephen K. White
, professor of politics at the University of Virginia
.
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and political theory.
Computer science
In computer science, a weak ontologyOntology (computer science)
In computer science and information science, an ontology formally represents knowledge as a set of concepts within a domain, and the relationships between those concepts. It can be used to reason about the entities within that domain and may be used to describe the domain.In theory, an ontology is...
is one that is not sufficiently rigorous to allow software to infer new facts without an intervention by human beings (the end users of the software system).
This distinction does not apply to the philosophical term
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
, because in philosophy all inference is performed by human beings. Accordingly, from the point of view of computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, philosophers do only weak ontology, except to the degree that their work converges with mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, Boolean logic
Boolean logic
Boolean algebra is a logical calculus of truth values, developed by George Boole in the 1840s. It resembles the algebra of real numbers, but with the numeric operations of multiplication xy, addition x + y, and negation −x replaced by the respective logical operations of...
, and other subfields in which automatic reasoning is known to be possible.
By this standard – which evolved as artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
methods became more sophisticated, and computers were used to model high human impact decisions – most database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
s use weak ontologies.
A weak ontology is adequate for many purposes, including education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, where one teaches a set of distinctions and trying to induce the power to make those distinctions in the student. Stronger ontologies only tend to evolve as the weaker ones prove deficient. This phenomenon of ontology becoming stronger over time parallels observations in folk taxonomy
Folk taxonomy
A folk taxonomy is a vernacular naming system, and can be contrasted with scientific taxonomy. Folk biological classification is the way peoples describe and organize their natural surroundings/the world around them, typically making generous use of form taxa like "shrubs", "bugs", "ducks",...
about taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
: as a society practices more labour specialization, it tends to become intolerant of confusions and mixed metaphors, and sorts them into formal profession
Profession
A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain....
s or practices. Ultimately, these are expected to reason about them in common, with mathematics, especially statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
and logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, as the common ground.
On the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
, folksonomy
Folksonomy
A folksonomy is a system of classification derived from the practice and method of collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorize content; this practice is also known as collaborative tagging, social classification, social indexing, and social tagging...
in the form of tag schema
Tag cloud
A tag cloud is a visual representation for text data, typically used to depict keyword metadata on websites, or to visualize free form text. 'Tags' are usually single words, and the importance of each tag is shown with font size or color...
s and typed link
Typed link
A typed link in a hypertext system is a link to another document or part of a document that includes information about the character of the link...
s has tended to evolve slowly in a variety of forums, and then be standardized in such schemes as microformats
Microformats
A microformat is a web-based approach to semantic markup which seeks to re-use existing HTML/XHTML tags to convey metadata and other attributes in web pages and other contexts that support HTML, such as RSS...
as more and more forums agree. These weak ontology constructs only become strong in response to growing demands for a more powerful form of search engine
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
than is possible with keywording.
Political theory
Weak ontology has a different, unrelated, meaning in political theory, where it describes a pragmaticPragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
approach that seeks to avoid foundationalist commitments. The term was first used in this context by Stephen K. White
Stephen K. White
Stephen K. White is James Hart Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on critical social and political theory, philosophy of social science, and continental political thought. He has contributed to several scholarly works on Jürgen Habermas, including The...
, professor of politics at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
.