Technical Artifact: An Integrated Perspective

Abstract. In this paper three perspectives are presented on defining the general notion of technical artifacts in formal ontologies. These perspectives share two intuitions: that technical artifacts are objects that exist by human intervention; and that technical artifacts are to be contrasted to natural entities. Yet the perspectives are different in the way they spell out these intuitions: the relevant human intervention may range from intentional selection to intentional production; and the contrast between technical artifacts and natural entities may be introduced by a constitution relation or by defining properties that set technical artifacts apart. The three perspectives are compared and their similarities and dissimilarities are explored. Keywords. technical artifact, formal ontology, natural-artificial distinction

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: FOMI
• Authors: Stefano Borgo, Maarten Franssen, Pawel Garbacz, Yoshinobu Kitamura, Riichiro Mizoguchi, Pieter E. Vermaas
• Keywords: FOMI 2011, Human Intervention, Intuitions, Knowledge Management, Natural Entities