Ontology is a philosophical study of the nature of existence, the formation of reality, the main categories of being and their relationships. Traditionally considered a part of such a philosophical branch as metaphysics. The ontology deals with the questions of what exists, and how these entities can be grouped in accordance with a single hierarchy, separated according to similarities and differences. In addition to the fundamental ontology, which deals with the universal laws of being, there are many subsections that have private phenomena (for example, the ontology of culture).
The word "ontology" is composed of the Greek roots "ontos", which means "existing; what is ", and" logos ", ie "Science, theory, research." And although it is of Greek origin, the first mention of the word is found in texts written in Latin. In English, it appears in the dictionary of Nathaniel Bailey in 1721, where it is defined as an "abstract description of being." This, of course, confirms that at that time the word was already in use.
In analytic philosophy, ontology is a doctrine that deals with the determination of the fundamental categories of being, and also asks in what sense the elements of this category can “exist”. This study, aimed at being in itself, is not intended to find out, for example, individual properties and facts concerning certain entities.
Trying to solve the problems of ontology, some philosophers, in particular Platonists, argued that all names (including abstract nouns) refer to the real. Other philosophers have disputed this, putting forward the point of view that nouns do not always refer to being, but some of them imply a reference to a group of similar objects or phenomena. According to the latter, the mind, instead of pointing to being, refers to a group of mental phenomena experienced by a person. So, the word “society” is associated with the collective image of people with certain qualities, and the word “geometry” is associated with specific intellectual activity.
Between these opposites, representing realism and nominalism, there are a number of other points of view, however, any ontology is a science that should give an idea of which concepts refer to reality, which ones do not, for what reason and which categories we have as a result. When such research touches upon concepts like space, time, reason, happiness, contact, energy and God, ontology becomes fundamental to many philosophical branches.
Thus, ontology is a philosophical doctrine, the fundamental issues of which include the problem of being as such. What is being and what can be called existing? Is it possible to divide existing into categories, and if so, into what? What is the meaning of being, the meaning of being? Various thinkers throughout the history of philosophy give diverse answers to these questions, which may reflect the nature of an entire era or culture.