Ontology as a Philosophical and General Scientific Concept: Main Approaches to Definition
| Authors: Tsvetkov Yu.B., Koshik V.S. | Published: 07.07.2026 |
| Published in issue: #4(120)/2026 | |
| DOI: | |
| Category: Noname | |
| Keywords: philosophical ontology, subject ontology, Aristotle’s categories, conceptualization, classes, function relationships, axioms, thesaurus | |
A currently relevant area in the philosophy of technology — the classification and systematization of approaches to defining the phenomenon of ontology — is examined. The philosophical understanding of ontology is compared with general scientific approaches to its study. The difference between the modern usage of the term "ontology" and its philosophical understanding is investigated, namely the transition from logical systematization and universal definitions of being to a formal representation of a subject domain in the form of a system of general or abstract concepts. It is noted that subject ontologies are characterized by a narrower scope of consideration compared to philosophical ontology, but a higher degree of detail in key concepts and the relationships between them is offered. It is concluded that the universality of the general philosophical principle of categorization embedded in subject ontologies ensures a wide range of applications and contributes to improving the efficiency of work in specific technical fields and engineering education. The possibility of using ontologies as a didactic tool that enhances the effectiveness of engineering education is demonstrated.
EDN TLTEZE
References
[1] Machado L.M.O. Ontologies in knowledge organization. Encyclopedia, 2021, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 144–151.
[2] Kovalev A.E. Sobytiynaya ontologicheskaya model’ ekonomicheskikh otnosheniy [Event-based ontological model of economic relations]. Idei i idealy — Ideas & Ideals, 2024, no. 1-2, pp. 309–332.
[3] Konstantinov F.V., ed. Filosofskaya entsiklopediya [Philosophical Encyclopedia]. Vol. 4. Moscow, Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya Publ., 1967, 592 p.
[4] Rubashkin V.Sh., Lakhuti D.G. Ontologiya: ot naturfilosofii k nauchnomu mirovozzreniyu i inzhenerii znaniy [Ontology: from Natural Philosophy to Scientific World Outlook and Knowledge Engineering]. Voprosy Filosofii, 2005, no. 1, pp. 64–81.
[5] Bakeeva E.V. Sovremennaya filosofiya. Vvedenie v ontologiyu [Modern Philosophy. Introduction to Ontology]. Moscow, Yurait Publ., 2018, 392 p.
[6] Poli R., Seibt J., eds. Theory and applications of ontology: Philosophical perspectives. New York, Springer, 2010, 415 p.
[7] Markova L.A. Na puti k novoy ontologii v filosofii nauki [On the path to a new ontology in the philosophy of science]. Voprosy Filosofii, 2013, no. 11, pp. 40–49.
[8] Komarov S.V. Sovremennaya zarubezhnaya filosofiya. Nekotorye ontologicheskie kontseptsii XXI veka [Modern Foreign Philosophy. Some Ontological Concepts of the 21st Century]. Perm, Perm State University, 2021, 160 p.
[9] Almeida M.B. Revisiting ontologies: A necessary clarification. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2013, vol. 64, no. 8, pp. 1682–1693.
[10] Aristotel. Sochineniya [Works]. Vol. 1. Moscow, Mysl Publ., 1976, 550 p.
[11] Taysina E.A. Metodologicheskiy arsenal Aristotelya i Kanta. Kategorii [Methodological arsenal of Aristotle and Kant. Categories]. Vestnik Samarskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta, Seriya “Filosofia” — Vestnik of Samara State Technical University. Series Philosophy, 2023, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 67–83.
[12] Baryshnikov P.N. Suschnost, imya i vesch v «kompyuternoy» ontologii Aristotelya [Essence, name and thing in Aristotle’s “computer” ontology]. Filosofskie problemy informatsionnykh tekhnologiy i kiberprostranstva — Philosophical Problems of Information Technologies and Cyberspace, 2022, no. 1, pp. 61–70.
[13] Popova V.S., Pushkarskiy A.G., Chalyy V.A. Ontologiya v metafizike versus ontologii v teoriyakh argumentatsii [Ontology in metaphysics versus ontologies in theories of argumentation]. RATsIO.RU — RATIO.RU, 2012, no. 8, pp. 99–126. DOI: 10.32603/2071-2340-2012-8-99-126 Available at: https://elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_21306632_96254708.pdf (accessed October 8, 2025).
[14] Zakovorotnaya M.V. Ontologicheskaya inzheneriya, filosofskaya ontologiya: problemy i perspektivy sovmestnogo razvitiya [Ontological engineering, philosophical ontology: problems and prospects of joint development]. Naučnaâ mysl’ Kavkaza — Scientific Thought of the Caucasus, 2013, no. 2, pp. 13–20.
[15] Gavrilova T.A., Khoroshevskiy V.F. Bazy znaniy intellektualnykh sistem [Knowledge Bases of Intelligent Systems]. St. Petersburg, Piter Publ., 2000, 382 p.
[16] Solovyev V.D. Ontologii i tezaurusy [Ontologies and Thesauri]. Moscow, BINOM Publ., 2006, 173 p.
[17] Gorshkov S. Vvedenie v ontologicheskoe modelirovanie [Introduction to Ontological Modeling]. Trinidata, 2016. Available at: https://trinidata.ru/files/SemanticIntro.pdf (accessed October 8, 2025).
[18] Ontologii i tezaurusy: modeli, instrumenty, prilozheniya [Ontologies and Thesauri: Models, Tools, Applications]. Intuit. Available at: https://intuit.ru/studies/courses/1078/270/lecture/6847?page=2 (accessed October 8, 2025).
[19] Ol’shevskaya A.V. Razrabotka predmetnykh ontologiy i sistem upravleniya distantsionnym obucheniem vo vzaimodeystvii s sotsial’nymi setyami: Dis. … kand. tekhn. nauk [Development of domain ontologies and distance learning management systems in interaction with social networks. Cand. Sc. (Eng.) dissertation]. St. Petersburg, 2014, 161 p.
[20] Erkimaev A.O., Zitserman V.Yu., Kobzev G.A., Serebryakov V.A., Teymurazov K.B. Ontologiya predmetnoy oblasti «Nanomaterialy i ikh primenenie» [Domain ontology “Nanomaterials and their applications”]. In: Kompyuternaya lingvistika i vychislitelnye ontologii. Internet i sovremennoe obshchestvo (IMS-2015). XVIII ob”edinennaya konferentsiya (Sankt-Peterburg, 23–25 iyunya 2015 g.) [Computational Linguistics and Computational Ontologies. Internet and Modern Society (IMS-2015). XVIII Joint Conference (St. Petersburg, June 23–25, 2015)]. St. Petersburg, ITMO University, 2015, pp. 67–81.
[21] Vlasov A.I., Zhuravleva L.V., Rezchikova E.V., Makushina N.V., Shakhnоv V.A., Chebova A.I. Ontologiya nanoinzhenerii [Ontology of nanoengineering]. Meždunarodnyj naučno-issledovatel’skij žurnal — International Research Journal, 2013, no. 12, pp. 50–67.
[22] Andronic M.M., Rodionov I.A., Tsvetkov Y.B. Digital design as a key approach to shortening MEMS development cycle. ITM Web of Conferences, 2020, vol. 35, art. no. 01003. (International Forum "IT-Technologies for Engineering Education: New Trends and Implementing Experience" (ITEE-2019), Moscow, Russia, November 28–29, 2019).
[23] Pilnik I.S., Baklykov D.A., Tsvetkov Yu.B. Ontologicheskoe modelirovanie opticheskikh mikroelektromekhanicheskikh sistem [Ontological modeling of optical microelectromechanical systems]. In: Buduschee mashinostroeniya Rossii. XVI Vserossiyskaya konferentsiya molodykh uchenykh i spetsialistov (s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem). Moskva, 19–22 sentyabrya 2023 g. [The Future of Russian Mechanical Engineering. XVI All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists and Specialists (with International Participation). Moscow, September 19–22, 2023]. Vol. 2. Moscow, Bauman Press, 2023, pp. 266–272.
[24] Tsvetkov Y.B., Baklykov D.A., Pribytkov A.D., Fedulova E.A. Ontological Modeling as a Means of Enhancing the Efficiency of MEMS Creation. In: 2025 7th International Youth Conference on Radio Electronics, Electrical and Power Engineering (REEPE). IEEE, 2025, pp. 1–4. DOI: 10.1109/REEPE63962.2025.10971080
[25] Strel’tsov A. Ontologii v informatsionnoy bezopasnosti [Ontologies in Information Security]. Kaspersky Lab, 2021. Available at: https://www.kaspersky.ru/blog/cybersecurity-ontology/30977/ (accessed October 8, 2025).
[26] Ontologiya proektirovaniya [Ontology of Designing]. Available at: https://www.ontology-of-designing.ru/ (accessed October 8, 2025).
[27] Eremin E.A. Ontologii kak sredstvo predstavleniya uchebnogo materiala [Ontologies as a means of presenting educational material]. Vestnik Permskogo gosudarstvennogo gumanitarno-pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya Informatsionnye kompyuternye tekhnologii v obrazovanii — Bulletin of Perm State Humanitarian-Pedagogical University. Series Information Computer Technologies in Education, 2007, no. 3, pp. 23–36.
[28] Sosnovsky S., Gavrilova T. Development of educational ontology for C-programming. International Journal “Information Theories & Applications”, 2006, vol. 13, pp. 303–308.
[29] Stancin K., Poscic P., Jaksic D. Ontologies in education–state of the art. Education and Information Technologies, 2020, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 5301–5320.
[30] Wang Y., Wang Z., Hu X., Bai T., Yang S., Huang L. A courses ontology system for computer science education. In: 2019 IEEE International Conference on Computer Science and Educational Informatization (CSEI). IEEE, 2019, pp. 251–254. DOI: 10.1109/CSEI47661.2019.8938930.
[31] Mosharraf M., Taghiyareh F. Automatic syllabus-oriented remixing of open educational resources using agent-based modeling. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 2019, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 297–311.
[32] Nahhas S., Bamasag O., Khemakhem M., Bajnaid N. Leveraging linked data to propel competency-based education based on labour skills. In: 2019 2nd International Conference on Computer Applications & Information Security (ICCAIS). IEEE, 2019, pp. 1–6. DOI: 10.1109/CAIS.2019.8769503.
[33] Piedra N., Caro E.T. LOD-CS2013: Multileaming through a semantic representation of IEEE computer science curricula. In: 2018 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON). IEEE, 2018, pp. 1939–1948. DOI: 10.1109/EDUCON.2018.8363473.
[34] Samia Z., Khaled R., Warda Z. Multi-agent systems and ontology for supporting management system in smart school. In: 2018 3rd International Conference on Pattern Analysis and Intelligent Systems (PAIS). IEEE, 2018, pp. 1–8. DOI: 10.1109/PAIS.2018.8598505.
[35] Tsvetkov Yu.B. Ontologicheskoe modelirovanie predmetnoy oblasti kak sredstvo povysheniya effektivnosti usvoeniya inzhenernykh distsiplin [Ontological modeling of the subject area as a means of improving the efficiency of mastering engineering disciplines]. In: Klyuchevye trendy razvitiya iskusstvennogo intellekta: nauka i tekhnologii. Mezhdunarodnaya IT-konferentsiya (Moskva, 21 aprelya 2023 g.) [Key Trends in the Development of Artificial Intelligence: Science and Technology. International IT Conference (Moscow, April 21, 2023)]. Moscow, Bauman Press, 2023, pp. 111–117.
[36] Netimenko K.Ya., Kiryanov S.V., Yurkin N.O., Platonov D.D. Subject area ontological simulation in learning the engineering discipline: students’ view. Politekhnicheskiy molodezhnyy zhurnal — Polytechnic Youth Journal, 2023, no. 7. DOI: 10.18698/2541-8009-2023-7-918
