ontology

Ontological concepts relate to being and existence itself - what fundamentally exists and the nature of reality.
The word comes from the Greek “ontos” meaning being.

“X is ontologically prior to Y” means X is more fundamental in the structure of reality.

Ontology includes questions like:

• What kinds of things fundamentally exist?
• What are the essential properties of things?
• What is the nature of reality?
• What is consciousness/mind?
• What constitutes identity over time?

epistemic vs ontologic

Ontologically subjective = the existence of the thing depends on minds/observers/conventions (e.g. money).
Epistemically objective = the facts about it, given that it exists, don’t depend on what any individual thinks.
Once the institution of money is in place, “this bill is a $20” is a fact that anyone can be right or wrong about.

Ontologically\Epistemically	subjective	objective
subjective	humor	money, marriages, borders, …
objective	facts without (known) answer	physical laws

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See real.