Roberto Poli | University of Trento (original) (raw)

Anticipation and Futures Studies by Roberto Poli

Research paper thumbnail of Belief Systems and the Modeling Relation

Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science +B... more Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science +Business Media Dordrecht. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be selfarchived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com".

Research paper thumbnail of Mastering Social Foresight

Research paper thumbnail of Social Foresight

Research paper thumbnail of Systems Dynamics Education

Research paper thumbnail of The Discipline of Anticipation (Miller Poli Rossel) - DRAFT

Research paper thumbnail of The Implicit Future Orientation of the Capability Approach - DRAFT

Research paper thumbnail of A Note on the Difference between Complicated and Complex Systems

The distinction between complicated and complex systems is of immense importance, yet it is often... more The distinction between complicated and complex systems is of immense importance, yet it is often overlooked. Decision-makers commonly mistake complex systems for simply complicated ones and look for solutions without realizing that 'learning to dance' with a complex system is definitely different from 'solving' the problems arising from it. The situation becomes even worse as far as modern social systems are concerned. This article analyzes the difference between complicated and complex systems to show that what is at stake is a difference of type, not of degree; (2) the difference is based on two different ways of understanding systems, namely through decomposition into smaller parts and through functional analysis; (3) complex systems are the generic, normal case, while complicated systems are highly distinctive, special, and therefore rare. * Here I use "complexity" with regard to both nonlinear phenomena (complexity proper) and infinite sensibility to initial and boundary conditions (what is usually called "chaos" or "deterministic chaos"). Both are based on an internal machinery of a predicative, algorithmic, i.e. mechanical, formal nature. † The following are some further aspects that a less cursory analysis will have to consider: (1) the "complicated" perspective point tends to work with closed systems, while the "complex" perspective point works with open systems; (2) the former naturally adopts a zerosum framework, while the latter can adopt a positivesum framework; (3) the former relies on firstorder systems, while the latter includes secondorder systems, that is systems that are able to observe themselves (which is one of the sources of their complexity).

Research paper thumbnail of The Many Aspects of Anticipation

Foresight, 2010

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by UNIVERSITA DEGLI ... more Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO

Research paper thumbnail of Overcoming Divides

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explain why finding a theory for futures studies is such... more Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explain why finding a theory for futures studies is such a demanding task. In particular, the paper paves the way towards a theoretical framework that goes beyond both positivism and anti-positivism.

Research paper thumbnail of The Complexity of Anticipation

An anticipatory system is a system with the capacity to nticipate its own evolution. This paper g... more An anticipatory system is a system with the capacity to nticipate its own evolution. This paper generalizes the idea f anticipatory systems from its original biological setting o the fields of cognitive and social sciences, and it shows hat anticipatory systems are a generalization of autopoietic ystems. Anticipatory systems, almost by definition, escape he possibilities of rote iteration. This argument shows that he complexity of an anticipatory system extends well beond mainstream complexity theory. For this reason, the dea of systems of higher-order complexity has been introuced. These types of systems come in at least two forms: mpredicative or self-referential systems, and living sysems. It follows that anticipation does not necessarily reuire life.

Research paper thumbnail of An Introduction to the Ontology of Anticipation

Research paper thumbnail of Les signaux faibles: une propension sociale spontanée

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Bishop Hines 2012, Teaching about the Future

Research paper thumbnail of Review of R. Rosen, Anticipatory Systems 2012

Research paper thumbnail of The Spread of Hierarchical Cycles

International Journal of General Systems, 2005

We propose a relational method to study impredicative systems, which are natural systems that hav... more We propose a relational method to study impredicative systems, which are natural systems that have models containing hierarchical cycles. The method is formulated in category theory in terms of alternate descriptions and their functorial connections. This general theory of impredicative systems has implications in the biological, psychological, and social realms, from which we offer many exemplifications.

Research paper thumbnail of Evolution and Anticipation

Research paper thumbnail of Anticipatory Systems and The Philosophical Foundations of Futures Studies

First, a bit of history. This special issue is the fruit of a meeting on anticipatory systems tha... more First, a bit of history. This special issue is the fruit of a meeting on anticipatory systems that took place in Italy, at the University of Trento at Rovereto in April 2008. At this first meeting we did not know that FuMee (for Futures Meeting) would become a series. Although as futurists we might have had our suspicions since FuMee 1 followed another series of meetings, the COST A22 process on Foresight Methodologies. It is testimony to the inspirational nature of the subject and of the participants that FuMee 3 is slated for May 2010. What inspires, as is evident in this Special Issue, is the centrality of anticipatory systems for understanding both what is the future (ontologically) and how it enters into the processes of everyday life as part of the production of knowledge (epistemology).

Research paper thumbnail of The Complexity of Self-reference A Critical Evaluation of Luhmann’s Theory of Social Systems

The paper presents the basic elements of Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems and shows that... more The paper presents the basic elements of Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems and shows that his theories follow quite naturally from the problem of the reproduction of social systems. The subsequent feature of the self-referentiality of social systems is discussed against the theory of hierarchical loops, as developed in particular by Robert Rosen. It will be shown that Rosen's theory is more general than Luhmann's. The nature of anticipatory systems and the problem of conflict are used as testing grounds to verify some interesting articulations of the general theory of hierarchical loops.

Research paper thumbnail of From Simple to Highly Complex Systems (Baianu, Poli)

The evolution of non-linear dynamical system theory and super-complex systems-that are defined by... more The evolution of non-linear dynamical system theory and super-complex systems-that are defined by classes of variable topologies and their associated transformations-is presented from a categorial and generalised, or extended topos viewpoint. A generalisation of dynamical systems, general systems theory is then considered for the meta-level dynamical systems with variable topology and variable phase space, within the framework of an "universal", or generalised Topos-a logico-mathematical construction that covers both the commutative and non-commutative structures based on logic classifiers that are multi-valued (MV) logic algebras. The extended topos concept was previously developed in conjunction with dynamic networks that were shown to be relevant to Complex Systems Biology. In so doing, we shall distinguish three major phases in the development of systems theory (two already completed and one currently unfolding). The three phases will be respectively called The Age of Equilibrium, The Age of Complexity and The Age of Super-Complexity. The first two may be taken as lasting from approximately 1850 to 1960, and the third which is now rapidly developing in applications to various types of systems after it began in the 1970s after the works of Rosen, Maturana and others. The mathematical theory of categories-which began in the 1940s [44],[45] with a seminal paper by Eilenberg and Mac Lane in 1945 [45]-is an unifying trend in modern mathematics , and has proved especially suitable for modeling the novelties raised by the third phase of systems' theory, which became associated with applications to system super-complexity problems in the late 1950s and 70s [84]-[85],[2],[6],[8], [88]-[89]; it was continued by applications to logical programming involving categorical logic in computer science [58] , as well as the categorical foundations of mathematics [59]-[60]. 131 Acta Universitatis Apulensis, ISSN 1582-5329, 2011, Special Issue on Understanding Complex Systems, Eds. Barna Iantovics, Ladislav Hluchý and Roumen Kountchev

Research paper thumbnail of Steps Toward an Explicit Ontology of the Future

Research paper thumbnail of Belief Systems and the Modeling Relation

Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science +B... more Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science +Business Media Dordrecht. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be selfarchived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com".

Research paper thumbnail of Mastering Social Foresight

Research paper thumbnail of Social Foresight

Research paper thumbnail of Systems Dynamics Education

Research paper thumbnail of The Discipline of Anticipation (Miller Poli Rossel) - DRAFT

Research paper thumbnail of The Implicit Future Orientation of the Capability Approach - DRAFT

Research paper thumbnail of A Note on the Difference between Complicated and Complex Systems

The distinction between complicated and complex systems is of immense importance, yet it is often... more The distinction between complicated and complex systems is of immense importance, yet it is often overlooked. Decision-makers commonly mistake complex systems for simply complicated ones and look for solutions without realizing that 'learning to dance' with a complex system is definitely different from 'solving' the problems arising from it. The situation becomes even worse as far as modern social systems are concerned. This article analyzes the difference between complicated and complex systems to show that what is at stake is a difference of type, not of degree; (2) the difference is based on two different ways of understanding systems, namely through decomposition into smaller parts and through functional analysis; (3) complex systems are the generic, normal case, while complicated systems are highly distinctive, special, and therefore rare. * Here I use "complexity" with regard to both nonlinear phenomena (complexity proper) and infinite sensibility to initial and boundary conditions (what is usually called "chaos" or "deterministic chaos"). Both are based on an internal machinery of a predicative, algorithmic, i.e. mechanical, formal nature. † The following are some further aspects that a less cursory analysis will have to consider: (1) the "complicated" perspective point tends to work with closed systems, while the "complex" perspective point works with open systems; (2) the former naturally adopts a zerosum framework, while the latter can adopt a positivesum framework; (3) the former relies on firstorder systems, while the latter includes secondorder systems, that is systems that are able to observe themselves (which is one of the sources of their complexity).

Research paper thumbnail of The Many Aspects of Anticipation

Foresight, 2010

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by UNIVERSITA DEGLI ... more Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO

Research paper thumbnail of Overcoming Divides

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explain why finding a theory for futures studies is such... more Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explain why finding a theory for futures studies is such a demanding task. In particular, the paper paves the way towards a theoretical framework that goes beyond both positivism and anti-positivism.

Research paper thumbnail of The Complexity of Anticipation

An anticipatory system is a system with the capacity to nticipate its own evolution. This paper g... more An anticipatory system is a system with the capacity to nticipate its own evolution. This paper generalizes the idea f anticipatory systems from its original biological setting o the fields of cognitive and social sciences, and it shows hat anticipatory systems are a generalization of autopoietic ystems. Anticipatory systems, almost by definition, escape he possibilities of rote iteration. This argument shows that he complexity of an anticipatory system extends well beond mainstream complexity theory. For this reason, the dea of systems of higher-order complexity has been introuced. These types of systems come in at least two forms: mpredicative or self-referential systems, and living sysems. It follows that anticipation does not necessarily reuire life.

Research paper thumbnail of An Introduction to the Ontology of Anticipation

Research paper thumbnail of Les signaux faibles: une propension sociale spontanée

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Bishop Hines 2012, Teaching about the Future

Research paper thumbnail of Review of R. Rosen, Anticipatory Systems 2012

Research paper thumbnail of The Spread of Hierarchical Cycles

International Journal of General Systems, 2005

We propose a relational method to study impredicative systems, which are natural systems that hav... more We propose a relational method to study impredicative systems, which are natural systems that have models containing hierarchical cycles. The method is formulated in category theory in terms of alternate descriptions and their functorial connections. This general theory of impredicative systems has implications in the biological, psychological, and social realms, from which we offer many exemplifications.

Research paper thumbnail of Evolution and Anticipation

Research paper thumbnail of Anticipatory Systems and The Philosophical Foundations of Futures Studies

First, a bit of history. This special issue is the fruit of a meeting on anticipatory systems tha... more First, a bit of history. This special issue is the fruit of a meeting on anticipatory systems that took place in Italy, at the University of Trento at Rovereto in April 2008. At this first meeting we did not know that FuMee (for Futures Meeting) would become a series. Although as futurists we might have had our suspicions since FuMee 1 followed another series of meetings, the COST A22 process on Foresight Methodologies. It is testimony to the inspirational nature of the subject and of the participants that FuMee 3 is slated for May 2010. What inspires, as is evident in this Special Issue, is the centrality of anticipatory systems for understanding both what is the future (ontologically) and how it enters into the processes of everyday life as part of the production of knowledge (epistemology).

Research paper thumbnail of The Complexity of Self-reference A Critical Evaluation of Luhmann’s Theory of Social Systems

The paper presents the basic elements of Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems and shows that... more The paper presents the basic elements of Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems and shows that his theories follow quite naturally from the problem of the reproduction of social systems. The subsequent feature of the self-referentiality of social systems is discussed against the theory of hierarchical loops, as developed in particular by Robert Rosen. It will be shown that Rosen's theory is more general than Luhmann's. The nature of anticipatory systems and the problem of conflict are used as testing grounds to verify some interesting articulations of the general theory of hierarchical loops.

Research paper thumbnail of From Simple to Highly Complex Systems (Baianu, Poli)

The evolution of non-linear dynamical system theory and super-complex systems-that are defined by... more The evolution of non-linear dynamical system theory and super-complex systems-that are defined by classes of variable topologies and their associated transformations-is presented from a categorial and generalised, or extended topos viewpoint. A generalisation of dynamical systems, general systems theory is then considered for the meta-level dynamical systems with variable topology and variable phase space, within the framework of an "universal", or generalised Topos-a logico-mathematical construction that covers both the commutative and non-commutative structures based on logic classifiers that are multi-valued (MV) logic algebras. The extended topos concept was previously developed in conjunction with dynamic networks that were shown to be relevant to Complex Systems Biology. In so doing, we shall distinguish three major phases in the development of systems theory (two already completed and one currently unfolding). The three phases will be respectively called The Age of Equilibrium, The Age of Complexity and The Age of Super-Complexity. The first two may be taken as lasting from approximately 1850 to 1960, and the third which is now rapidly developing in applications to various types of systems after it began in the 1970s after the works of Rosen, Maturana and others. The mathematical theory of categories-which began in the 1940s [44],[45] with a seminal paper by Eilenberg and Mac Lane in 1945 [45]-is an unifying trend in modern mathematics , and has proved especially suitable for modeling the novelties raised by the third phase of systems' theory, which became associated with applications to system super-complexity problems in the late 1950s and 70s [84]-[85],[2],[6],[8], [88]-[89]; it was continued by applications to logical programming involving categorical logic in computer science [58] , as well as the categorical foundations of mathematics [59]-[60]. 131 Acta Universitatis Apulensis, ISSN 1582-5329, 2011, Special Issue on Understanding Complex Systems, Eds. Barna Iantovics, Ladislav Hluchý and Roumen Kountchev

Research paper thumbnail of Steps Toward an Explicit Ontology of the Future

Research paper thumbnail of Ethics and Futures Studies

Ethics and futures studies interact in at least three ways:

Research paper thumbnail of A Glimpse into the Sphere of Ideal Being: The Ontological Status of Values

Research paper thumbnail of Value-Wholes

Research paper thumbnail of Person and Value

Research paper thumbnail of On the Concept of Person: The Social Nature of Persons

Research paper thumbnail of Three Concepts of Person

Three of the principal theories which can be used to understand, categorize and organize the many... more Three of the principal theories which can be used to understand, categorize and organize the many aspects of reality prima facie have unexpected interdependencies. The theories to which I refer are those concerned with the causal connections among the items that make up the real world, the space and the time in which they grow, and the levels of reality. What matters most is the discovery that the difficulties internal to theories of causation and to theories of space and time can be understood better, and perhaps dealt with, in the categorial context furnished by the theory of the levels of reality. The structural condition for this development to be possible is that the first two theories be opportunely generalized. In other words, the thesis outlined in this position paper has two aspects. The first is the hypothesis that the theory of levels can function as a general categorial framework within which to recast our understanding of causal and spatio-temporal phenomena. The second aspect is that the best-known and most usual categorizations of causal, spatial and temporal dependencies are not sufficiently generic and are structurally constrained to express only some of the relevant phenomena. Explicit consideration of the theory of the levels of reality furnishes the keystone for generalization of both the theory of causes and the theory of times and spaces. To assert that a theory is not sufficiently generic is to say that the manner in which it is configured may hamper rather than help full understanding of the relevant phenomena. From this assertion follow two of the three obstructions mentioned in the title to this paper. The third obstruction is easier to specify. Whilst the theories of causality and spacetime are robust and well-structured -whatever criticisms one might wish to make of them -the situation of the theory of the levels of reality is entirely different, in that it is not at all widely endorsed or thoroughly developed. On the contrary, it is a decidedly minority proposal, and it still has many obscure, or simply underdeveloped, aspects. The theory of levels is the third obstruction cited in the title. Nonetheless, the approach outlined in what follows seems to be the most promising route to follow.

Research paper thumbnail of The Structure of Motivation. A First Introduction

Research paper thumbnail of The Order of Evils: Toward an Ontology of Morals

Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2008

Ophir distinguishes between evils and Evil. Evils concern concrete cases of disvalue, occurrences... more Ophir distinguishes between evils and Evil. Evils concern concrete cases of disvalue, occurrences of offence or of pain. Evil instead concerns the systematic production and distribution of evils. Evil is therefore an authentic dimension of reality; it is not a transcendent entity (p. 11). 1 Nevertheless, Evil is never apparent as such. What is apparent are only evils—in the plural—as specific entities which exist with their specific objective and subjective characteristics (p. 14). Some evils, from hypocrisy to arrogance to dishonesty to betrayal, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Chapter 1 Pure and Qualified Time

Research paper thumbnail of Qua-Theories

Research paper thumbnail of Descriptive, Formal, and Formalized Ontologies

Research paper thumbnail of Ontology: The Categorial Stance

Research paper thumbnail of Hartmann's Theory of Categories: Introductory Remarks

Aristotle's theory of categories -and in particular the sub-theory of accidents -had an enormous ... more Aristotle's theory of categories -and in particular the sub-theory of accidents -had an enormous influence for more than twenty centuries. After this long period of influence, during the past two centuries quite a few radically new theories of categories have been advanced. Following the two well-known transformations of the theory of categories brought about by Kant and Hegel, six further major reforms were proposed in a period that spanned hardly more than nine decades, notably by Brentano, Husserl, Ingarden, Hartmann, Peirce and Whitehead, who published their work approximately between 1860 and 1950. Apart from these main reforms, a large number of minor ones, occasionally able to furnish deep insights into the categorial nature of specific types of entities, were advanced as well. While the theories of Husserl, Peirce and Whitehead appear to be reasonably discussed, those of Brentano, Ingarden and Hartmann are much less discussed. In some of my previous papers I have already considered the categorial frameworks of Brentano ) and, to a lesser extent, Ingarden (Poli 1998a and 2010a) and Hartmann . In this paper, I shall present Hartmann's theory of categories more systematically. My purpose here is eminently reconstructive, leaving comparison with other frameworks and critical evaluation to subsequent occasions. Even within these limitations, the present paper reconstructs only a fragment of the overall framework developed by Hartmann. Here I specifically deal with (some parts of) the third volume of Hartmann's ontological quadrilogy, Der Aufbau der realen Welt.

Research paper thumbnail of Spheres of Being and The Network of Ontological Dependencies

Research paper thumbnail of Ontology as Categorial Analysis

Ontological categories are organized along a number of different dimensions. The simplest is the ... more Ontological categories are organized along a number of different dimensions. The simplest is the distinction between categories that apply to all entities, both real and ideal, and categories that apply only to some families of entities. More complicated is the analysis of the relations that connect categories one to another. Two different exemplifications of the latter case are provided, i.e., the form of duality linking some paired categories and the relations of superformation and superconstruction that connect levels of reality. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis of the category of temporality is presented. Ideas previously advanced by Nicolai Hartmann are exploited throughout the paper.

Research paper thumbnail of Ontological Categories, Latents, and The Irrational

Research paper thumbnail of Analysis-Synthesis

The multi-layered complexity of the connections linking together analysis and synthesis is unfold... more The multi-layered complexity of the connections linking together analysis and synthesis is unfolded against the theories of wholes and their parts and levels of reality. The paper claims that entities connected by a relation of existential dependence and not related by a partwhole connection are linked by a whole-whole relation. In exploiting some of Herman Dooyeweerd's ideas, one type of whole-whole connection is discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of Domain Theory: A Preliminary Proposal

Research paper thumbnail of Upper Ontologies Hold It Together

After presenting some of the basic features of terminology-based ontologies, the thesis is defend... more After presenting some of the basic features of terminology-based ontologies, the thesis is defended that all the relations needed by any concrete application can be generated by a small set of general relations, by adding proper ontological constrains to the general relations' arguments. This procedure provides an explicit and verifiable grounding to all forms of knowledge managements, including acquisition, interchange, integration, reuse, merging, aligning and updating knowledge. Upper ontologies therefore provide cues for developing both unification and decomposition methods. Finally, upper ontologies pave the ground for enhancing automatic reasoning and other machineoriented procedures. I conclude by mentioning a difficulty in the theory of semantic fields.

Research paper thumbnail of Formal and Ontological Roundabouts

Research paper thumbnail of The Ontology of What Is Not There

After discussion of the mainstream definition of ontology, and a short analysis of the Aristoteli... more After discussion of the mainstream definition of ontology, and a short analysis of the Aristotelian's principles, the paper addresses the problem of the categorial nature of the future by distinguishing (a) possibility from potentiality and (b) forward from upward emergence.

Research paper thumbnail of Res, ens and aliquid

Research paper thumbnail of Process Semantics

The adverbial version of process semantics advocated by Rescher is discussed. The limitations of ... more The adverbial version of process semantics advocated by Rescher is discussed. The limitations of the logical approach requires a reconceptualization of process semantics. The new interpretations are tested against the problems of (1) dynamic families, (2) dynamic identities, (3) ontology of processes and their mathematical models.

Research paper thumbnail of The Interplay Between Ontology as Categorial Analysis and Ontology as Technology

Research paper thumbnail of First Steps in Experimental Phenomenology

Research paper thumbnail of The Basic Problem of the Theory of Levels of Reality

Research paper thumbnail of Three Obstructions: Forms of Causation, Chronotopoids, and Levels of Reality

Axiomathes, 2007

The thesis is defended that the theories of causation, time and space, and levels of reality are ... more The thesis is defended that the theories of causation, time and space, and levels of reality are mutually interrelated in such a way that the difficulties internal to theories of causation and to theories of space and time can be understood better, and perhaps dealt with, in the categorial context furnished by the theory of the levels of reality. The structural condition for this development to be possible is that the first two theories be opportunely generalized.

Research paper thumbnail of Levels

Research paper thumbnail of Levels of Reality and Levels of Representation

Ontology, in its philosophical meaning, is the discipline investigating the structure of reality.... more Ontology, in its philosophical meaning, is the discipline investigating the structure of reality. Its findings can be relevant to knowledge organization, and models of knowledge can, in turn, offer relevant ontological suggestions. Several philosophers in time have pointed out that reality is structured into a series of integrative levels, like the physical, the biological, the mental, and the cultural, and that each level plays as a base for the emergence of more complex levels. More detailed theories of levels have been developed by Nicolai Hartmann and James K. Feibleman, and these have been considered as a source for structuring principles in bibliographic classification by both the Classification Research Group (CRG) and Ingetraut Dahlberg. CRG's analysis of levels and of their possible application to a new general classification scheme based on phenomena instead of disciplines, as it was formulated by Derek Austin in 1969, is examined in detail. Both benefits and open problems in applying integrative levels to bibliographic classification are pointed out.

Research paper thumbnail of Levels of Reality and the Psychological Stratum

Research paper thumbnail of The Theory of Levels of Reality and The Difference Between Simple and Tangled Hierarchies

The main features of the theory of level of reality are presented. The conceptual framework accor... more The main features of the theory of level of reality are presented. The conceptual framework according to which levels follow a linear, bricklike order is opposed to a more sophisticated, "tangled" framework.

Research paper thumbnail of Two Theories of Levels of Reality In Dialogue with Basarab Nicolescu

Research paper thumbnail of Husserl's Conception of Formal Ontology

Research paper thumbnail of Kazimierz Twardowski

Research paper thumbnail of General Theses of the Theory of Objects

Research paper thumbnail of Modes and Boundaries

Research paper thumbnail of Approaching Brentano's Theory of Categories

Research paper thumbnail of In Itinere: Pictures from Central-European Philosophy

Research paper thumbnail of Brentano and His School: Reassembling the Puzzle

Research paper thumbnail of Husserl's Conception of Formal Ontology

History and Philosophy of Logic, 1993

The concept of formal ontology was first developed by Husserl. It concerns problems relating to t... more The concept of formal ontology was first developed by Husserl. It concerns problems relating to the notions of object, substance, property, part, whole, predication, nominalization, etc. The idea of formal ontology is present in many of Husserl's works, with minor changes. This paper provides a reconstruction of such an idea. Husserl's proposal is faced with contemporary logical orthodoxy and it is presented also an interpretative hypothesis, namely that the original difference between the general perspective of usual model theory and ...

Research paper thumbnail of Meinong in His and Our Times

Onset Various considerations prompted the idea of undertaking this historical and conceptual reco... more Onset Various considerations prompted the idea of undertaking this historical and conceptual reconstruction of the theories developed in Graz at the turn of the nineteenth century by a group of philosophers and experimental psy- chologists led by Alexius Meinong. The majority of the contributions to this book adhere closely to the original texts in order to provide a reliable account

Research paper thumbnail of Twardowski's Theory of Modification Against the Background of Traditional Logic

Axiomathes, 1993

The distinction in contemporary philosophy between determining and modifying adjectives was intro... more The distinction in contemporary philosophy between determining and modifying adjectives was introduced by Brentano, but it first received thorough treatment only in Twardowski's book on the content and the object of presentations !. The problem of modifying expressions, as exemplified by modifying adjectives, is a point of particular difficulty in any attempt at rigorous analysis of language. I shall proceed as follows: I shall begin with a description of the general features of Twardowski's analysis; I shall then move to a brief reconstruction of some of the main ...

Research paper thumbnail of Object and Measurement in Mally's Untersuchungen

Research paper thumbnail of Logic, Theory of Science, and Metaphysics According to Stanislaw Lesniewski

Research paper thumbnail of The Concept of Empirical Reality Between Logic and Psychology: The Proposals of the Young Musatti

Research paper thumbnail of Iconic Graphs: An Exercise in Topological Phenomenology

Axiomathes, 1997

John Sowa has often pointed out that his proposal of conceptual graphs develops and updates intui... more John Sowa has often pointed out that his proposal of conceptual graphs develops and updates intuitions by Peirce, as well as by other thinkers in the areas of psychology and linguistics like Selz and Tesni~ re. To the ideas of the latter refers the Fields medal Ren6 Thorn, who developed catastrophe theory and made several innovative proposals for the application of catastrophist formalism to natural language. Thorn's ideas have been developed in specifically linguistic terms by Wildgen, while Petitot has paid particularly ...

Research paper thumbnail of Glancing at the Problems of Contemporary Ontology

Research paper thumbnail of Ontology and Knowledge Organization

Research paper thumbnail of Formal Ontology, Conceptual Analysis and Knowledge Representation

The purpose of this paper is to defend the systematic introduction of formal ontological principl... more The purpose of this paper is to defend the systematic introduction of formal ontological principles in the current practice of knowledge engineering, to explore the various relationships between ontology and knowledge representation, and to present the recent trends in this promising research area. According to the "modelling view" of knowledge acquisition proposed by Clancey, the modeling activity must establish a correspondence between a knowledge base and two separate subsystems: the agent's behavior (i.e. the problem-solving expertize) and its own environment (the problem domain). Current knowledge modelling methodologies tend to focus on the former subsystem only, viewing domain knowledge as strongly dependent on the particular task at hand: in fact, AI researchers seem to have been much more interested in the nature of reasoning rather than in the nature of the real world. Recently, however, the potential value of task-independent knowlege bases (or "ontologies") suitable to large scale integration has been underlined in many ways. In this paper, we compare the dichotomy between reasoning and representation to the philosophical distinction between epistemology and ontology. We introduce the notion of the ontological level, intermediate between the epistemological and the conceptual level discussed by Brachman, as a way to characterize a knowledge representation formalism taking into account the intended meaning of its primitives. We then discuss some formal ontological distinctions which may play an important role for such purpose.

Research paper thumbnail of Ontological Methodology

International Journal of Human-computer Studies / International Journal of Man-machine Studies, 2002

The interest in ontology may peter out unless three problems are addressed: What are the boundari... more The interest in ontology may peter out unless three problems are addressed: What are the boundaries of ontology? What types are there of ontology? What is the structure of ontology? After distinguishing three main kinds of information (ontological, quasi-ontological and non-ontological) and three types of ontologies (descriptive, formal and formalized), the paper presents a few basic ontological sub-theories (theory of particulars, of levels of reality, of wholes, parts and boundaries, and the intensive–extensive opposition for determinations). The methodology of domain analysis is further addressed and the distinction between a domain's structure and the scheme of the canonical item of a domain is introduced.

Research paper thumbnail of GFO-Bio: A Biomedical Core Ontology

Applied Ontology, 2008

The rapid increase in the number and use of biological ontologies necessitates developing systems... more The rapid increase in the number and use of biological ontologies necessitates developing systems for their integration. In this paper we present a core ontology for biology, and outline its application for integrating biological domain ontologies. Our ontology rests on a foundational ontology, which offers higher-order categories and a theory of levels of reality. The core ontology is implemented in two separate components, each of which adheres to OWL-DL. These can be used independently with efficient DL reasoners, but they will be most effective when used together, which necessitates working with an OWL-Full ontology. The ontology is freely available from our website at: http://bioonto.de/pmwiki.php/Main/GFO-Bio.

Research paper thumbnail of Ontology and Multimedia

This paper reviews various efforts to define and capture the semantics of multimedia data. These ... more This paper reviews various efforts to define and capture the semantics of multimedia data. These efforts are particularly relevant to the problem of storing, managing and querying the semantic content of such data. Since there is not yet an accepted solution to the problem of how to represent, organize and manage multimedia data and the related semantics by means of a formal framework, this paper aims at providing some major research trends in this area. The focus is on ontologies, which allow the exchange of semantics of multimedia content between distributed information systems. This paper aims at reporting on recent trends in the development of multimedia ontologies.

Research paper thumbnail of Andrew Basden, Philosophical Frameworks for Understanding Information Systems

Research paper thumbnail of Ecological Literacy Leadership

A broad international agenda for research and education in systemic sustainability, holism, and a... more A broad international agenda for research and education in systemic sustainability, holism, and anticipation is needed to meet the challenges of sustainability science and to anticipate a better future. We propose a new scientific and cultural framework for this agenda based on the need to couple "bottomup" and "top-down" causation to understand complex and living systems as more than mechanisms; involving complex feedbacks and information relations with multiple simultaneous contexts. The initial framework, which is itself a subject of investigation, is based on categorical relations between natural forms of information and material phenomena-a new vision of science and nature that is emerging in all fields today. The necessary coupling of essential "causes" or modes of explanation, can be accomplished rigorously and mathematically using the approach of relational biology pioneered by the mathematical biologist Robert Rosen. This approach suggests a deep natural foundation in the sciences that is quintessentially ecological, introducing a principle of natural relation and anticipation involving "closed loops of causation" that cannot exist as traditional mechanisms. The new agenda aims to understand "systemic sustainability" in proper balance with "process sustainability," which tends to dominate sustainability research and practice today. At the same time, new organizational learning and entrepreneurship models are changing management, business, education, and social science toward more creative modes of functioning. These are met with a similar call for new models in education. The education agenda we envision will seek a balance between top-down and bottom-up modes of Readers may find the following article controversial.

Research paper thumbnail of W.E. Johnson's Determinable-Determinate Opposition and His Theory of Abstraction

Research paper thumbnail of Perspective Shifters

Research paper thumbnail of The Virtuality of Language

Natural language presents a kind of complexity that is analogous to the complexity characterizing... more Natural language presents a kind of complexity that is analogous to the complexity characterizing biological, psychological and social systems. Their type of complexity is such that there is no formal model able fully to capture the dynamic unfolding of the relevant phenomena. Among the local models that one can develop, those working at the interface between language and cognition appear to be more enlightening than the more customary models based on the opposition between syntax and semantics; furthermore, the strategy of developing a multiplicity of different partial models can be substantially improved by developing batteries of related models, such as those based on the interplay between structural and functional dimensions.

Research paper thumbnail of Nicolas A. Vasil'év (1880–1940)

Axiomathes, 1993

Nicolas Alexandrovich Vasil'~ v was born in the city of Kazan, on June 29, 1880, int... more Nicolas Alexandrovich Vasil'~ v was born in the city of Kazan, on June 29, 1880, into a highly educated family. His father was a prominent mathematician, and the editor of the series New ideas in mathematics. Since 1898 NA Vasil'~ v studied medicine in Kazan University. After graduating, he served as a country physician till 1904. In 1906, Vasil'~ v graduated also from the historical-philosophical department of the same university. In 1910 he became a Privatdozent of philosophy, in 1917 a docent and in 1918 a full professor of ...

Research paper thumbnail of Ontology for knowledge organization

Advances in Knowledge Organization, Jul 15, 1996

Abstract: The first main thesis of the paper is that an ontology is not a catalogue of the world,... more Abstract: The first main thesis of the paper is that an ontology is not a catalogue of the world, a taxonomy, or a terminology. If anything, an ontology is the general framework within which catalogues, taxonomies, and terminologies may be given suitable organization. The second main thesis is that reality is organized into diverse levels and there are sophisticated dependences among these levels and within them.

Research paper thumbnail of Complex Systems

Handbook of Anticipation

Traditional modes of system representation as dynamical systems, involving fixed sets of states t... more Traditional modes of system representation as dynamical systems, involving fixed sets of states together with imposed dynamical laws, pertain only to a meagre subclass of natural systems. This reductionistic paradigm leaves no room for final causes; constrained thus are the simple systems. Members of their complementary collection, natural systems having mathematical models that are not dynamical systems, are the complex systems. Complex systems, containing hierarchical cycles in their entailment networks, can only be approximated and simulated, locally and temporarily, by simple ones. Anticipatory systems are, in this specific sense, complex, hence this introductory chapter on Complex Systems in the Handbook of Anticipation.

Research paper thumbnail of Theory and applications of ontology (2 Volume-set)

Ontology is back at the forefront of philosophy, science and technology. These days ontology come... more Ontology is back at the forefront of philosophy, science and technology. These days ontology comes in at least two main fashions: the traditional philosophical understanding of ontology has been recently flanked by a new-computer-based-understanding of ontology. The current resurgence of interest in ontological issues displays a number of novel features, both among philosophers and among information technologists. Broadly speaking, the two research communities of philosophers and engineers have still not found a way to relate ...

Research paper thumbnail of Theory and Applications of Ontology: Computer Applications

Ontology was once understood to be the philosophical inquiry into the structure of reality: the a... more Ontology was once understood to be the philosophical inquiry into the structure of reality: the analysis and categorization of 'what there is'. Recently, however, a field called 'ontology'has become part of the rapidly growing research industry in information technology. The two fields have more in common than just their name. Theory and Applications of Ontology is a two-volume anthology that aims to further an informed discussion about the relationship between ontology in philosophy and ontology in information technology. It fills an ...

Research paper thumbnail of Levels of Reality and Levels of Representation

Résumé/Abstract Ontology, in its philosophical meaning, is the discipline investigating the struc... more Résumé/Abstract Ontology, in its philosophical meaning, is the discipline investigating the structure of reality. Its findings can be relevant to knowledge organization, and models of knowledge can, in turn, offer relevant ontological suggestions. Several philosophers in time have pointed out that reality is structured into a series of integrative levels, like the physical, the biological, the mental, and the cultural, and that each level plays as a base for the emergence of more complex levels. More detailed theories of levels have been developed ...

Research paper thumbnail of System dynamics education: becoming part of anticipatory systems

Purpose – This paper aims to present an overview of deep issues flanking the ideas of sys... more Purpose
– This paper aims to present an overview of deep issues flanking the ideas of system and complexity, and an overview of the mentioned course as a proposal for systems thinking.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper provides a discursive overview of systems and philosophical concepts related to the described course.

Findings
– The review offers a perspective of a super-system that includes the students, the lecturers and the context of their interaction, in which one may recognize a relational framework for social learning of a systemic sustainability.

Research limitations/implications
– The overview concerns only the actual intervention in the University of Trento.

Practical implications
– The described concepts and related philosophical discussion may contribute to the integration of system thinking in the future studies.

Originality/value
– The described intervention is a new Italian context and the integration of systems concepts with futures studies seems not to be commonly established.