Since the first day of its existence, humanity has tried to understand the world in which it lives, and for this reason, philosophy has emerged. Philosophy is an extremely broad field that is divided into countless sub-branches. However, ontology, also known as ontology, is accepted as the first philosophy, as the Greek philosopher Aristotle said, because the field that ontology examines is the very concept of being, which is thought to be the basis of everything.
Ontology, which started its studies with the difficult question of whether there is an existence, then asks many different questions about what the concept of existence is. Although it started with Aristotle, its first definition was made in the 17th century. After being forgotten for a while, it was revived in the following years and countless thoughts were produced on it. Let’s examine in all details the questions that are curious about what is ontology and what it examines in a way that everyone can understand.
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Let’s start with the basics, what is an ontology?
Ontology, also called ontology and ontology, can be defined as a philosophical discipline that examines the concept of being and asks questions about it. Concepts such as existence, existence, existence of existence and absence of existence constitute the main discussion topics of this discipline. Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who is estimated to have lived between 384 and 322 BC, used the first definition of philosophy for ontology.
- Aristotle
So what does ontology study?
Ontology, which Aristotle defines as an ontology, examines the categorization of existence. He asks questions on the concept of existence by looking at it from the windows of science and philosophy. Explains the separation of the subject from metaphysics through theories such as the existence of existence with time. In other words, it is a discipline in which the concept of being is examined from different angles and questions are asked to examine what exactly it is.
What questions does ontology ask? Ontological questions:
- What is an asset?
- When does an object disappear or change?
- What is existence?
- Is existence a feature?
- What are physical objects?
- What is true?
- Is it possible to prove the existence of a physical object?
- What is information theory?
- What is the relationship between objects?
- Edmund Husserl
Approaches of ontology to existence:
The discipline of ontology approaches existence from two aspects, scientific and philosophical. According to science, existence is factual and these are studied. In fact, science has nothing to do with the question of whether there is an existence, because there is existence as a presupposition. Unlike philosophy, science examines the existence in parts, not as a whole.
Philosophy’s approach to existence is quite different. Because, in addition to the question of whether there is an entity, it also asks questions such as whether it can be known. Like science, it does not follow a method to solve these questions and seeks answers through reflection. For philosophy, existence is a whole and it emerged with an effort to understand the universe.
Currents established by answering the questions of ontology:
The first and most basic question of ontology is whether there is an entity and it provides the examination of the concept of being. Of course, existence philosophers do not give a clear answer to this question, but there are philosophical movements established by answering this question.
According to the nihilism movement that emerged in the 19th century and developed in Russia, there is no existence. Likewise, the taoism movement that emerged in the Ancient Chinese period also says that existence actually disappears. Realism, on the other hand, with the premise that there is existence, argues that it is an independent structure other than reason. Of course, these currents have also been divided into many sub-currents and disciplines over time.
Ontology’s ‘What is Being?’ Answers to the question:
- Karl Marx
Create entity:
The first person to say that existence is a becoming is the Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, saying that ‘You cannot bathe in the same stream twice.’ explained with an example. Being a becoming means that it is constantly changing and nothing stays the same as before.
Being is the idea:
Those who say that existence is an idea are Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Hegel. There are idealism and dualism movements that support this idea. Being an idea means that it is a thought, that is, there is no mind-independent world.
Entity is matter:
People who say that existence is a substance are Democritus, Hobbes, Karl Marx and La Mattire. There is a current of materialism that defends this idea. Being a matter means that the actual reality is physical matter and even consciousness emerges as a result of matter interactions.
Being is both idea and matter:
It is Descartes who says that existence is both idea and matter. Accordingly, mind thinks, matter occupies space. All other ideas of Descartes are based on this thought. Those who advocate this are called Cartesian.
Being is the phenomenon:
The person who said that existence is a phenomenon is the German philosopher Edmund Husserl, who lived between 1859 and 1938 and the founder of the phenomenology school. Being a phenomenon means that it is only a phenomenon, that is, something that can be observed and perceived by the senses.
- Willard Van Orman Quine
Brief history of ontology:
Although ontology was first put forward by Aristotle, its philosophical definition and naming was carried out by the German philosopher Jacob Lorhardus in 1606. This view was harshly criticized by David Hume and Immanuel Kant in the 18th century.
Ontology, which was seen as a general metaphysical subject by Christian Wolff, was evaluated as a phenomenon by Edmund Husserl. Ontology, which was not studied for a while, was brought to the status of a philosophical discipline by the American philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine, who lived between 1908 and 2000.
Philosophers asking and examining ontological questions:
- Aristotle
- David Malet Armstrong
- Kindi
- birûni
- Alain Badiou
- Gustav Bergmann
- Patricia Churchland
- Paul Churchland
- Gilles Deleuze
- René Descartes
- Jean Gebser
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
- Martin Heidegger
- Heraclitus
- Edmund Husserl
- Roman Ingarden
- Saul Kripke
- Gottfried Leibniz
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- William of Oakham
- Parmenides
- Plato
- Plotinus
- Hilary Putnam
- W.V. Quine
- Bertrand Russell
- Gilbert Ryle
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Barry Smith
- Baruch Spinoza
- PF Strawson
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
- Emmanuel Levinas
- René Descartes
We talked about the studies of philosophers on this discipline by answering questions such as what is ontology, which examines the concept of being and asks questions about it, and what it examines. You can share your thoughts on the subject in the comments.
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