An overview of OntoClean

Authors: 
Guarino, N; Welty, CA
Author: 
Guarino, Nicola
Welty, Christopher A.
Year: 
2009
Venue: 
Handbook on ontologies
URL: 
http://www.springerlink.com/index/u575540v7n042v75.pdf
Citations: 
337
Citations range: 
100 - 499
AttachmentSize
GuarinoWeltyOntoCleanv3.pdf340.4 KB

OntoClean is a methodology for validating the ontological adequacy
of taxonomic relationships. It is based on highly general ontological notions drawn from philosophy, like essence, identity, and unity, which are used to characterize relevant aspects of the intended meaning of the properties, classes, and relations that make up an ontology. These aspects are represented by formal metaproperties, which impose several constraints on the taxonomic structure of an ontology. The analysis of these constraints helps in evaluating and validating the choices made.
In this chapter we present an informal overview of the philosophical notions involved and their role in OntoClean, review some common ontological pitfalls, and walk through the example that has appeared in pieces in previous papers and has been the basis of numerous tutorials and talks.