Ontology
From Geography
Contents |
Contextual understanding
Ontology refers to the filosophical theories (or meta-theories)'compromises theories, or sets of theories, which seek to answer 'the question of what the world must be like for knowledge to be possible' (Aitken and Valentine, 2006, p.5). The Dutch translation of ontology is 'zijnsleer'. It describes the being of a complex whole of things. In this sense, as noted by Bhaskar, every account of science presupposes an ontology (Johnston, Gregory, Pratt & Watts, 2000, pp.561). Ontology can be viewed as a framework. For example entities are formed by ontology. One needs to understand and accept the framework of a specific field in order to be able to understand and ask the correct questions about this research field. The reality of life and what is real is subjective to framing and ontology. Therefore possible of change. Changing ontologies can broaded a field with a way of looking at things and asking new questions. The birth of humanism can be seen as a change in ontology, framing of scientific questions changed together with the view of the world.
Ontological traditions
Bhaskar distinguishes three broad ontological traditions within the philosophy of science:
- Classical empiricism: in which 'the ultimate objects of knowledge are atomistic events'. From this point of view he claims, that 'knowledge and the world may be viewed as surfaces whose points are in isomorphic correspondence': having a direct one-to-one relation with each other.
- Transcendental Idealism: in which the ultimate objects of knowledge are artificial constructs imposed upon the world. In this perspective knolwedge is seen as a structure rather than a surface' - a structure constituted by the thinking subject.
- Transcendental Realism: regards the ultimate objects of knowledge as the 'structures and mechanisms that generate phenomena' and'regards 'such objects exist and act independently of their identification' (Johnston, Gregory, Pratt & Watts, 2000, pp.561-562)
Ontology in Collaborative Planning in an Uncollaborative World
References
- Aitken, S. & Valentine, G. (2006). Approaches to Human Geography. SAGE publications Ltd, London.
- Johnston, R.J., Gregory, Derek, Pratt, Geraldine. & Watts, Michael. (2000). The Dictionary of Human Geography. Blackwell.
Contributors
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