Ontological databases extend traditional databases with ontological constraints. This technology is crucial for many applications such as semantic data publishing and integration as well as model-driven database design. For many classes of ontological constraints, query answering can be solved via query rewriting. In particular, given a conjunctive query and a set of ontological constraints, th...

The increased sensitivity of engineered products to external forces requires new computer-based design tools that can express the richness and complexity of product knowledge. This paper is a progress report of the author’s research towards the development of such a knowledge-based design tool, called the Design Knowledge Specification Language (DKSL). A key goal is to ensure the maximum possib...

In this paper I present a novel objection to ontological arguments. The argument concerns ontological arguments in general and has the general form of a reductio ad absurdum. Roughly, it rests on the fact that if a sound ontological argument were available, it would contradict the very nature of God. For God aims at maximising the development of human good qualities (including thus faith) and i...

In this paper I pursue the question whether transcendental explanation in Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre should be regarded as ontologically committed. It is natural to assume that transcendental explanation in the Wissenschaftslehre should be construed non-ontologically: Schulze's criticisms of Kantian philosophy and Jacobi's objection to philosophical justification supply Fichte with motives for...

This essay aims at showing how the “mass hermit”, as defined by Günther Anders, is the logical point of arrival of that philosophical process which has interpreted human subjectivity as a closed system, intended as the sum of two mechanically overlapped parts: a biological-natural one and a psychological-intellectual one. This figure is counterposed with a subject who is “always already somewhe...

We extend traditional functional dependencies (FDs) for data quality purposes to accommodate ontological variations in the attribute values. We begin by formally defining a novel class of dependencies called ontological FDs, which strictly generalize traditional FDs by allowing differences controlled by an ontology database. The ontology databases contain information about synonyms. We then foc...

Abstract The researchers have been interested to explore the impact of personality traits on second or foreign language learning. The current study is an attempt to investigate whether there exists a statistically significant relationship between introvert and extrovert EFL learners’ willingness to communicate and ambiguity tolerance. To this end, a total of 150 EFL learners completed the Intro...

Ontological analyses have been used in numerous publications to compare existing modelling grammars with an ontology. However, a sound theoretical research framework is still missing. Consequently, working with the results of such ontological analyses is theoretically questionable. The aim of the paper is threefold. Firstly, we want to contribute to such a theoretical research framework by form...