What is Ontology?  Let me give you a general introduction to the word and the concept.
The word itself comes from two Greek words namely: "Onto," which means existence or being
real, and "Logia" which means science, or study.
The word Ontology is used both in a philosophical context and a non-philosophical context.
Let's start with the former.  Ontology in a philosophical context, well it's basically the study of
what exists, what is being real, what is real.
And examples of Philosophical Ontology questions could be - What are the fundamental parts of
the world and how are they related to each other?  Are physical parts more real than immaterial
concepts; for example, are physical objects such as shoes more real than the concept of walking?
And in terms of what exists, what is the relationship between shoes and walking?
And why is Ontology important in philosophy?  Well, philosophers use this concept of Ontology
to discuss questions, to build theories and models, and to consequently better understand the
Ontological status of the world.
And over time there has been two major branches: 
Ontological Materialism and Ontological Idealism.
Materialism from a philosophical perspective is the belief that material things are just particles,
chemical processes, and energy are more real than, for example, the human mind.  So, the overall
belief within Ontological Materialism is that reality of exists regardless of a human observer.
In Ontological Idealism, on the other hand, the belief is that immaterial phenomenon, such as the
human mind and the consciousness are more real than the material things.  And the belief here is
that the reality is constructed in the mind of the observer.
Moving on, I told you this is just a general introduction to the concept.
In a non- philosophical context, Ontology is used in a different, more narrow meaning.  Here
Ontology is the description of what exists specifically within a determined field.
For example, every part that exists within a specific information system and this includes the
relationship and hierarchy between these parts.
And, unlike the philosophers, these researchers are not primarily interested in discussing if these
things are the true essence or core of the system.  And, nor are they discussing if the parts within
the system are more real, compared to the processes that take place within the system.  Rather,
they are focused on naming parts and processes and 
grouping similar ones together within categories.
So, here are some more examples of the use of Ontology outside philosophy.  It's also used in
Social Ontology; here the idea is to describe society and the difference parts and processes
within society.  And the purpose of Social Ontology then could be to simply understand and
describe the underlying structures that affect individuals and groups.
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