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Matter is an important topic of science as a discipline since its inception. Nevertheless, along with the evolution of semantic web, matter has got equal importance among the ontology developers. The current work describes an ontology of matter that the authors developed in the lab. The purpose of this paper is to come up with an exhaustive list of concepts and relations to cover matter domain under one umbrella, after identifying the gaps in the present ontologies.

Ontology was developed following faceted analytico-synthetic approach of knowledge organization. The authors followed hybrid developmental approach which includes top-down as well as bottom-up development strategy, for creating classes and subclasses. The authors modelled matter domain comprehensively considering different aspects of matter. The theories behind the modelling approach helps to maintain the consistency of further extensions.

Final ontology has around 280 concepts and as many as 60 properties which include both object property and datatype property.

There exists very vague definition of concepts in different subject areas, as matter is a domain of study in physics, chemistry, material science, metallurgy, etc. Same material has been adopted differently depending upon purpose of its study/use in that field. For example aspirin is simply a chemical compound in chemistry, whereas in medicine it is also an agent.

Present work claims to influence the ontology engineers to develop more extension to this core ontology of matter (COMAT). Also this will find its use in information retrieval, semantic annotations and in several other semantic knowledge-based systems.

COMAT is the most recent work of the domain. Originality lies in the way matter domain has been looked up, from a very wide perspective, as well as in the approach of modelling the domain.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a coherent, comprehensive and complete philosophical framework that can not only validate but also guide the implementation of the organisational development strategies proposed in Presence: Exploring Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society.

First, the paper situates the processes presented in the text within the overall context of current organisational development theory. Then, since no current widely supported philosophical framework can provide validation and support to the fundamental assumptions inherent within the text's proposals, a new philosophical framework is described. Finally, the unique insights gained from this new philosophical framework are used to offer prerequisite considerations for employing the processes proposed here.

Unless explicit and individualised attention is directed to helping each employee first develop deeply self‐reflective processes, the organisational insights and practices, as presented in the work cited above, cannot be attained.

Through applying the theoretical insights gained from the particular philosophical framework presented herein, the paper provides very clear and specific guidelines for the professional development of employees so that they can act according to the precepts presented in the work cited above.

The paper provides a unique perspective on the key understandings presented in the work cited above. It also provides practical ways for successfully engendering these within an organisation's culture.

The versions of positivism that are critically assessed in Bruce Caldwell’s Beyond Positivism bear two dominant sets of implications. One is that knowledge growth is monistic in nature; the other is that science has a specific deductivist structure. Caldwell focuses mainly on the former and its critics. I argue here that the second set of implications always did, and still does, perhaps more than ever, warrant critical attention.

This chapter offers a critique of the affirmative forms of thought that attempt to ground the ontology of social being through subjective-idealist terms. Some recent examples came in the form of notion of truth grounded in subjects' experience and in rationality of language and discourse. The first part of the chapter demonstrates the perilous implications of such an approach for social theory tasked with ontology and for the conception of truth necessary for its task. The second part scrutinizes the paradigm of society that stems from this subjective-idealist notion of truth and social ontology that adopts discourse, language, and literary metaphors to comprehend social being. As an alternative, the final part of the chapter offers a preliminary sketch of the relation of ontology, normativity, and mediation, as well as the notion of critique necessary for social theory tasked with ontology.

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the development and use of the gene ontology (GO), a scientific vocabulary widely used in molecular biology databases, with particular reference to the relation between the theoretical basis of the GO, and the pragmatics of its application.

The study uses a combination of bibliometric analysis, content analysis and discourse analysis. These analyses focus on details of the ways in which the terms of the ontology are amended and deleted, and in which they are applied by users.

Although the GO is explicitly based on an objective realist epistemology, a considerable extent of subjectivity and social factors are evident in its development and use. It is concluded that bio-ontologies could beneficially be extended to be pluralist, while remaining objective, taking a view of concepts closer to that of more traditional controlled vocabularies.

This is one of very few studies which evaluate the development of a formal ontology in relation to its conceptual foundations, and the first to consider the GO in this way.

By engaging with recent debates between management historians over social constructionism, this paper aims to show the merits of adopting a new realist ontology of the business enterprise. In contrast with ANTi-History, the purpose is to provide a philosophically rigorous conception of social objects and to argue that enterprises are a member of this category.

Insights from Maurizio Ferraris’s documentality theory and Graham Harman’s philosophy of social objects are used to identify the ontological forming ground and developmental pathway of an Antipodean stevedoring company that operated prior to the deregulation of New Zealand’s ports in 1989.

With regard to social entities in general and firms in particular, continental philosophy’s resurgent realist movement provides a history-aware social ontology that incorporates the grain of truth lying within social constructionism. As exemplified by the writings of Ferraris and Harman, realism provides a viable conception of social objects and, in so doing, a more coherent ontological foundation for the business enterprise than the relational ontology embraced by management history ANTians.

By drawing on two realist perspectives hitherto neglected by management historians, this paper resolves disagreements about the ontology of the business enterprise.

The purpose of this paper is to present a reflexive review of ANTi-History written as a reply to a critique by James Reveley, published in the Journal of Management History, called “Firm objects: new realist insights into the sociohistorical ontology of the business enterprise.”

Reveley’s critique of ANTi-History focuses on three aspects, namely, matters of ontology, actors and relationalism. Using the logic of ANTi-History, the author reviews each and offers a reply.

This paper demonstrates that ANTi-History is inspired by amodern thought. This condition negates the need and desire to classify social and physical objects in the study of history. Drawing on Actor-Network Theory, ANTi-History assumes that historical actors are heterogeneous, and the consequence is that both human and nonhuman actors should feature in the study of history. The focus, in using ANTi-History, should be in-between the human and nonhuman actors that make up the past and history. This is the premise of using a relational lens.

The review of ANTi-History is structured as a reply to critiques of the approach. In reflecting on these criticisms, the author realizes that ANTi-History has gotten beyond its originators. As one of those originators, the author inspired to continue to develop its strange potential.

The purpose of this paper is to argue that the school of thought known as Critical Realism and the thinkers involved in the current revival of interest in British Idealism would benefit from interacting with each other.

The paper proceeds by critically examining central tenets in the thought of each school, and exhibit their affinities and differences.

It is found that there are central themes and concerns shared by each school of thought, and that the recognition of such commonalities might prove mutually beneficial to the relevant parties in their goal of positively transforming social reality. Furthermore, the Critical Realist worry about Idealisms “irreality” is shown to be unfounded.

The close relationship of the ideas of these two “lines of thought” has not, to our knowledge, previously been highlighted. Having done so in the paper, a useful dialogue may ensue.

Purpose – To develop an alternate metaethical framework based upon a specific modality of difference.

Methodology/approach – A radicalisation of Moore's naturalistic fallacy and the application of the open question argument within the broader context of the continental tradition allow one to direct the ethical question away from non-naturalism and towards a speculative ethics.

Findings – Suggesting an ethical modality irreducible to ontological description or political prescription, the chapter argues for a metaethics of ‘exhortation’.

Originality/value of chapter – The chapter opens a new space for thinking ethics, and further encourages the continuing rapprochement between continental and analytical traditions in philosophy.

Practical implications – Questions of practical ethics will find new modes of engagement and expression in the context of a hortative metaethics.