1. Ontology and the Austrian
Tradition
Barry Smith

2. Brentano and his students
Brentano
b. Marienberg am Rhein
1838
Meinong
b. Lemberg
1853
Ehrenfels
b. Rodaun
1859
Husserl
b. Proβnitz
1859
Twardowski
b. Vienna
1866

3. Brentano revolutionizes psychology
Brentano
published Psychology
from an Empirical
Standpoint, 1874
Meinong Ehrenfels
founder of Gestalt
psychology, 1890
Husserl Twardowski

5. Brentanists revolutionize ontology
Brentano
Meinong
On the Theory
of
Objects, 1904
Ehrenfels
Husserl
first formal
mereology, 1902
______
first use of
‘formal ontology’
~1905;
Twardowski
Leśniewski
logical
formalization
of
mereology, 1
916

6. Brentanists revolutionize our understanding
of the relations between psychology and
ontology
In 1874 Brentano (re-)introduces into
philosophy the idea of intentional
directedness (aboutness)
Meinong Ehrenfels Husserl Twardowski
how can we think about what does not exist?

7. 7
the arrow of intentionality

8. Brentanists introduce the problem of
understanding the relation between
intentionality and language
Brentano
Meinong Ehrenfels Husserl
categorial
grammar, 1901
Twardowski
Leśniewski
founder of
formal
mereology
Tarski invents
formal
semantics

9. The Logicians: Leśniewski, Tarski, Łukasiewicz, Twardowski
Main Library of the University of Warsaw

10. “From Intentionality to Formal Semantics”
Brentano
Husserl Twardowski
Leśniewski
formal
mereology
Tarski
formal
semantics
Joseph Woodger
Axiomatic Method in
Biology

11. 11
the arrow of intentionality

12. The varieties of aboutness
Brentano
Meinong Ehrenfels
Husserl
simple
perceptually filled
veridical
relational
mediated by language
Twardowski

13. ± simple
mental process content (putative) target
presenting act
content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
judging act
judgment-content
“the apple over there is
ripe”
state of affairs
(Objektive)
evaluating act
emotional act
appraisal
…
“it is good that the apple
over there is ripe”
?

14. mental process content target
you see an apple “apple” an apple
• you are in physical contact with target
― cf. Russell’s knowledge by acquaintance;
J. J. Gibson’s ecological theory of perception
± relational intentionality

15. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act
sensory content object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
object
present
object
absent
± perceptually filled
ordinary perception

16. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act
sensory content object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
object
present
object
absent
perceptually filled does not imply
veridical
hallucination

17. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple” + sensation
originating causally at
target
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
object
present
object
absent
the evolutionarily most basic case
ordinary perception

18. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple” + sensation
originating causally at
target
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
object
present
object
absent
relational implies veridical
ordinary perception

19. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
object
present
object
absent
veridical does not imply relational
veridical thinking about

20. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object exists
object
present
object
absent
± content match

21. content match
“apple”

22. content match
“food”

23. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object exists
object
present
object
absent
veridical does not imply content match

24. content mismatch
“poison”

25. content mismatch
“apple”
content here not just a matte of language

26. mental process content target
you see an apple “apple” an apple
± linguistically mediated
A cat can see a king

27. 28
the primacy of language (Sellars …)
mental experiences are about objects because
words have meaning
word / meaning

28. 29
the primacy of the intentional
(Brentano, Husserl, …):
linguistic expressions have meanings because there
are („animating‟) mental experiences which have
aboutness

29. dimension of content / belief prior to
dimension of language

30. language comes later than mental
aboutness
31

31. to create a general theory
of aboutness not marked
by the prejudice in favor
of veridical intentionality
non-veridical intentionality

32. Investigations on
the Theory of
Objects and
Psychology

33. “From Intentionality to Formal Ontology”
Brentano
Husserl Twardowski
Leśniewski
formal
mereology
Tarski
formal
semantics
Joseph Woodger
The Axiomatic Method in
Biology (1937)
with Appendix by Tarski

34. “From Intentionality to Formal Ontology”
Brentano
Husserl Twardowski
Leśniewski
formal
mereology
Tarski
formal
semantics
Joseph Woodger Axiomatic
Method in Biology
Patrick Hayes
“Ontology of Liquids” (1985)
…
formal ontologies in
information systems

35. 38
Google hits Jan. 2004
ontology + Heidegger 58K
ontology + Aristotle 77K
ontology + philosophy 327K

36. 39
Google hits Jan. 2004
ontology + Heidegger 58K
ontology + Aristotle 77K
ontology + philosophy 327K
ontology + software 468K
ontology + database 594K
ontology + information systems 702K

37. 40
Comparison 2004/2012
ontology + Heidegger 58K 0.99M
ontology + Aristotle 77K 1.35M
ontology + philosophy 327K 4.84M
ontology + software 468K 7.68M
ontology + database 594K 8.15M
ontology +information systems 702K 5.99M

38. Investigations on
the Theory of
Objects and
Psychology
with support from
the Imperial-Royal
Minister of Culture
and Education in
Vienna, 1904

39. Examples of Ontology Projects funded
by National Institutes of Health
NIH / NHGRI* GO: Gene Ontology
NIH / NIGMS PRO: Protein Ontology
NIH / NIAID IDO: Infectious Disease Ontology
NIH / NIAID Major Histocompatilibity Complex
(MHC) Ontology
NIH / NHGRI SO: Sequence Ontology
NIH / NLM FMA: Foundational Model of
Anatomy
NIH / NHGRI CL: Cell Ontology
*National Human Genome Research Institute
42

40. 43
http://bioontology.org
NIH National Center for Biomedical Computing
US Consortium Partners:
Stanford University School of Medicine
The Mayo Clinic
University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy

41. Distributed Common Ground System–Army (DCGS-A)
Semantic
Enhancement of
the Dataspace
on the Cloud
Intelligence and Information Warfare
Directorate
Research, Development and Engineering Command

42. Old biology data
45/

43. MKVSDRRKFEKANFDEFESALNNKNDLVHCPSITLFESIPTEVRSF
YEDEKSGLIKVVKFRTGAMDRKRSFEKVVISVMVGKNVKKFLTFV
EDEPDFQGGPISKYLIPKKINLMVYTLFQVHTLKFNRKDYDTLSLF
YLNRGYYNELSFRVLERCHEIASARPNDSSTMRTFTDFVSGAPIV
RSLQKSTIRKYGYNLAPYMFLLLHVDELSIFSAYQASLPGEKKVDT
ERLKRDLCPRKPIEIKYFSQICNDMMNKKDRLGDILHIILRACALNF
GAGPRGGAGDEEDRSITNEEPIIPSVDEHGLKVCKLRSPNTPRRL
RKTLDAVKALLVSSCACTARDLDIFDDNNGVAMWKWIKILYHEVA
QETTLKDSYRITLVPSSDGISLLAFAGPQRNVYVDDTTRRIQLYTD
YNKNGSSEPRLKTLDGLTSDYVFYFVTVLRQMQICALGNSYDAFN
HDPWMDVVGFEDPNQVTNRDISRIVLYSYMFLNTAKGCLVEYAT
FRQYMRELPKNAPQKLNFREMRQGLIALGRHCVGSRFETDLYES
ATSELMANHSVQTGRNIYGVDFSLTSVSGTTATLLQERASERWIQ
WLGLESDYHCSFSSTRNAEDVDISRIVLYSYMFLNTAKGCLVEYA
TFRQYMRELPKNAPQKLNFREMRQGLIALGRHCVGSRFETDLYE
SATSELMANHSVQTGRNIYGVDFSLTSVSGTTATLLQERASERWI
New biology data
46

44. next generation genomics
47

45. How to do biology across the genome?
MKVSDRRKFEKANFDEFESALNNKNDLVHCPSITLFESIPTEVRSFYEDEKSGLIKVVKFRTGAMDRKRSFEKVVIS
VMVGKNVKKFLTFVEDEPDFQGGPISKYLIPKKINLMVYTLFQVHTLKFNRKDYDTLSLFYLNRGYYNELSFRVLER
CHEIASARPNDSSTMRTFTDFVSGAPIVRSLQKSTIRKYGYNLAPYMFLLLHVDELSIFSAYQASLPGEKKVDTERL
KRDLCPRKPIEIKYFSQICNDMMNKKDRLGDILHIILRACALNFGAGPRGGAGDEEDRSITNEEPIIPSVDEHGLKVC
KLRSPNTPRRLRKTLDAVKALLVSSCACTARDLDIFDDNNGVAMWKWIKILYHEVAQETTLKDSYRITLVPSSDGIS
LLAFAGPQRNVYVDDTTRRIQLYTDYNKNGSSEPRLKTLDGLTSDYVFYFVTVLRQMQICALGNSYDAFNHDPWM
DVVGFEDPNQVTNRDISRIVLYSYMFLNTAKGCLVEYATFRQYMRELPKNAPQKLNFREMRQGLIALGRHCVGSR
FETDLYESATSELMANHSVQTGRNIYGVDFSLTSVSGTTATLLQERASERWIQWLGLESDYHCSFSSTRNAEDVM
KVSDRRKFEKANFDEFESALNNKNDLVHCPSITLFESIPTEVRSFYEDEKSGLIKVVKFRTGAMDRKRSFEKVVISV
MVGKNVKKFLTFVEDEPDFQGGPISKYLIPKKINLMVYTLFQVHTLKFNRKDYDTLSLFYLNRGYYNELSFRVLERC
HEIASARPNDSSTMRTFTDFVSGAPIVRSLQKSTIRKYGYNLAPYMFLLLHVDELSIFSAYQASLPGEKKVDTERLK
RDLCPRKPIEIKYFSQICNDMMNKKDRLGDILHIILRACALNFGAGPRGGAGDEEDRSITNEEPIIPSVDEHGLKVCK
LRSPNTPRRLRKTLDAVKALLVSSCACTARDLDIFDDNNGVAMWKWIKILYHEVAQETTLKDSYRITLVPSSDGISLL
AFAGPQRNVYVDDTTRRIQLYTDYNKNGSSEPRLKTLDGLTSDYVFYFVTVLRQMQICALGNSYDAFNHDPWMD
VVGFEDPNQVTNRDISRIVLYSYMFLNTAKGCLVEYATFRQYMRELPKNAPQKLNFREMRQGLIALGRHCVGSRF
ETDLYESATSELMANHSVQTGRNIYGVDFSLTSVSGTTATLLQERASERWIQWLGLESDYHCSFSSTRNAEDVMK
VSDRRKFEKANFDEFESALNNKNDLVHCPSITLFESIPTEVRSFYEDEKSGLIKVVKFRTGAMDRKRSFEKVVISVM
VGKNVKKFLTFVEDEPDFQGGPISKYLIPKKINLMVYTLFQVHTLKFNRKDYDTLSLFYLNRGYYNELSFRVLERCH
EIASARPNDSSTMRTFTDFVSGAPIVRSLQKSTIRKYGYNLAPYMFLLLHVDELSIFSAYQASLPGEKKVDTERLKR
DLCPRKPIEIKYFSQICNDMMNKKDRLGDILHIILRACALNFGAGPRGGAGDEEDRSITNEEPIIPSVDEHGLKVCKL
RSPNTPRRLRKTLDAVKALLVSSCACTARDLDIFDDNNGVAMWKWIKILYHEVAQETTLKDSYRITLVPSSDGISLL
AFAGPQRNVYVDDTTRRIQLYTDYNKNGSSEPRLKTLDGLTSDYVFYFVTVLRQMQICALGNSYDAFNHDPWMD
VVGFEDPNQVTNRDISRIVLYSYMFLNTAKGCLVEYATFRQYMRELPKNAPQKLNFREMRQGLIALGRHCVGSRF
ETDLYESATSELMANHSVQTGRNIYGVDFSLTSVSGTTATLLQERASERWIQWLGLESDYHCSFSSTRNAEDVMK
VSDRRKFEKANFDEFESALNNKNDLVHCPSITLFESIPTEVRSFYEDEKSGLIKVVKFRTGAMDRKRSFEKVVISVM
VGKNVKKFLTFVEDEPDFQGGPISKYLIPKKINLMVYTLFQVHTLKFNRKDYDTLSLFYLNRGYYNELSFRVLERCH
EIASARPNDSSTMRTFTDFVSGAPIVRSLQKSTIRKYGYNLAPYMFLLLHVDELSIFSAYQASLPGEKKVDTERLKR
48

46. how to link the kinds of phenomena
represented here
49

47. or here
50

48. MKVSDRRKFEKANFDEFESALNNKNDLVHCPSITLFESIPTEVRSFYEDEKSGLIKVVKFRTGAMDRK
RSFEKVVISVMVGKNVKKFLTFVEDEPDFQGGPIPSKYLIPKKINLMVYTLFQVHTLKFNRKDYDTLSL
FYLNRGYYNELSFRVLERCHEIASARPNDSSTMRTFTDFVSGAPIVRSLQKSTIRKYGYNLAPYMFLLL
HVDELSIFSAYQASLPGEKKVDTERLKRDLCPRKPIEIKYFSQICNDMMNKKDRLGDILHIILRACALNF
GAGPRGGAGDEEDRSITNEEPIIPSVDEHGLKVCKLRSPNTPRRLRKTLDAVKALLVSSCACTARDLD
IFDDNNGVAMWKWIKILYHEVAQETTLKDSYRITLVPSSDGISLLAFAGPQRNVYVDDTTRRIQLYTDY
NKNGSSEPRLKTLDGLTSDYVFYFVTVLRQMQICALGNSYDAFNHDPWMDVVGFEDPNQVTNRDIS
RIVLYSYMFLNTAKGCLVEYATFRQYMRELPKNAPQKLNFREMRQGLIALGRHCVGSRFETDLYESA
TSELMANHSVQTGRNIYGVDSFSLTSVSGTTATLLQERASERWIQWLGLESDYHCSFSSTRNAEDVV
AGEAASSNHHQKISRVTRKRPREPKSTNDILVAGQKLFGSSFEFRDLHQLRLCYEIYMADTPSVAVQA
PPGYGKTELFHLPLIALASKGDVEYVSFLFVPYTVLLANCMIRLGRRGCLNVAPVRNFIEEGYDGVTDL
YVGIYDDLASTNFTDRIAAWENIVECTFRTNNVKLGYLIVDEFHNFETEVYRQSQFGGITNLDFDAFEK
AIFLSGTAPEAVADAALQRIGLTGLAKKSMDINELKRSEDLSRGLSSYPTRMFNLIKEKSEVPLGHVHKI
RKKVESQPEEALKLLLALFESEPESKAIVVASTTNEVEELACSWRKYFRVVWIHGKLGAAEKVSRTKE
FVTDGSMQVLIGTKLVTEGIDIKQLMMVIMLDNRLNIIELIQGVGRLRDGGLCYLLSRKNSWAARNRKG
ELPPKEGCITEQVREFYGLESKKGKKGQHVGCCGSRTDLSADTVELIERMDRLAEKQATASMSIVAL
PSSFQESNSSDRYRKYCSSDEDSNTCIHGSANASTNASTNAITTASTNVRTNATTNASTNATTNASTN
ASTNATTNASTNATTNSSTNATTTASTNVRTSATTTASINVRTSATTTESTNSSTNATTTESTNSSTNA
TTTESTNSNTSATTTASINVRTSATTTESTNSSTSATTTASINVRTSATTTKSINSSTNATTTESTNSNT
NATTTESTNSSTNATTTESTNSSTNATTTESTNSNTSAATTESTNSNTSATTTESTNASAKEDANKDG
NAEDNRFHPVTDINKESYKRKGSQMVLLERKKLKAQFPNTSENMNVLQFLGFRSDEIKHLFLYGIDIYF
CPEGVFTQYGLCKGCQKMFELCVCWAGQKVSYRRIAWEALAVERMLRNDEEYKEYLEDIEPYHGDP
VGYLKYFSVKRREIYSQIQRNYAWYLAITRRRETISVLDSTRGKQGSQVFRMSGRQIKELYFKVWSNL
RESKTEVLQYFLNWDEKKCQEEWEAKDDTVVVEALEKGGVFQRLRSMTSAGLQGPQYVKLQFSRH
HRQLRSRYELSLGMHLRDQIALGVTPSKVPHWTAFLSMLIGLFYNKTFRQKLEYLLEQISEVWLLPHW
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ELIGLFYNKTFRQKLEYLLEQISEVWLLPHWLDLANVEVLAADDTRVPLYMLMVAVHKELDSDDVPDG
51
to this?

49. 52
or this?

50. MouseEcotope GlyProt
DiabetInGene
GluChem
sphingolipid
transporter
activity
annotation using common ontologies allows
navigation between databases
53

51. this allows integration of databases
MouseEcotope GlyProt
DiabetInGene
GluChem
Holliday junction
helicase complex
54

52. How annotate this
55

53. or this?
56

54. or this?
57

55. Mental Functioning Ontology (Draft)

56. Mental Functioning Ontology (Draft)
with thanks to Janna Hastings and Kevin Mulligan
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences)

57. Basic Formal Ontology
60
BFO:Entity
BFO:Continuant BFO:Occurrent
BFO:Process
BFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
BFO:Disposition

58. Basic Formal Ontology
and Mental Functioning Ontology (MFO)
61
BFO:Entity
BFO:Continuant BFO:Occurrent
BFO:Process
Organism
BFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO
MFO
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
Behaviour
inducing state
Mental Functioning
Related Anatomical
Structure
Cognitive
Representation
BFO:Quality
Affective
Representation
Mental Process
Bodily Process
BFO:Disposition

59. Functions vs. Functionings
Continuants vs. Occurrents
6262
BFO:Entity
BFO:Continuant BFO:Occurrent
BFO:Process
Organism
BFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO
MFO
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
Mental
Function
Cognitive
Representation
BFO:Quality
Mental Process
Bodily Process
BFO:Disposition
Mental
Functioning

60. Aboutness (‘Intentionality’)
63
BFO:Entity
BFO:Continuant BFO:Occurrent
BFO:Process
Organism
BFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO
MFO
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
Mental
Function
Cognitive
Representation
BFO:Quality
Mental Process
Bodily Process
BFO:Disposition
Mental
Functioning
does all mental functioning involve cognitive
representation (aboutness)?
what is aboutness?

61. Extending the MFO
• to linguistic competence and performance
64

62. Linguistic Functioning Ontology
(1. Speech and hearing)
65
65
BFO:Entity
BFO:Continuant BFO:Occurrent
BFO:ProcessBFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO
MFO
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
Behaviour
inducing state
Cognitive
Representation
BFO:Quality
Speech-
mediated
cognitive
representation
Speech
process
Bodily Process
BFO:Disposition
Linguistic
competence
Speech competence of a
population
= a [spoken] language
Speech competence of
an individual
Hearing
(registering)
process

63. Linguistic Functioning Ontology
(2. Reading and writing)
66
66
BFO:Entity
BFO:Continuant BFO:Occurrent
BFO:ProcessBFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO
MFO
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
Behaviour
inducing state
Cognitive
Representation
BFO:Quality
Written-
language-
mediated
cognitive
representation
Writing
process
Bodily Process
BFO:Disposition
Linguistic
competence
Written linguistic
competence of a
population
= a [written] language
Written linguistic
competence of an
individual
Reading
(registering)
process

64. Linguistic Functioning Ontology
(the whole thing)
67
67
BFO:Entity
BFO:Continuant BFO:Occurrent
BFO:ProcessBFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO
MFO
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
Behaviour
inducing state
Cognitive
Representation
BFO:Quality
Language-
mediated
cognitive
representation
Writing
Bodily Process
BFO:Disposition
Linguistic
competence
Linguistic competence
of a population
= a language Linguistic competence
of an individual
Reading
Speaking

65. Extending the MFO to mental disease
68

66. 69

67. 70

68. Mental Functioning Ontology (MF)
71
brain
endocrine
gland

69. http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/49078/
72
Extending MFO to
Emotions

70. need link to a physiology ontology 73
‘physiological response to emotion’

71. 74
‘emotion
process’

72. Using the Emotion Ontology
for self-report of emotional experiences
Objectives:
• Capture emotional experiences in a
standardised fashion using the underlying
vocabulary of the Emotion Ontology
1. prediction of suicide via aggregation of text
messages
2. evaluation of scientific conferences

73. View all presentations for conference

74. Select a presentation

76. Tag options available in tool

77. Studies of the biochemical basis of
emotion
Emotions are effected in part by
neurotransmitters such as dopamine, tryptophan
Thursday, May 02, 2013 82
dopamine
(CHEBI:25375)
molecular entity
(CHEBI:25375)
biological role
(CHEBI:24432)
neurotransmitter
(CHEBI:25512)
has role
neurotransmitter
receptor activity
(GO:0030594)
Molecular function
(GO:0003674)
realized in
happiness
(MFOEM:42)
part of
emotion
(MFOEM:1)
subtype

78. Ontological traffic rule:
to build an ontology of the types of
entities in a complex domain, focus first
on the canonical instances
83

79. Canonical pain & variants
PCT: pain with concordant tissue damage: pain of
the evolutionarily most basic sort = pain in
response to concordant tissue damage
Variant pain
PNT: pain with peripheral trauma but discordant
(elevated) relative to tissue damage: there is
peripheral trauma, but the patient is experiencing
pain of much too high an intensity
NN: neuropathic nociception: no peripheral
trauma, but the patient is experiencing pain in
result of a neuropathic disorder in the nociceptive
system.
84

80. 85

81. Pain-related phenomena without pain
PBWP: pain behavior without pain: there is a
cry or report of pain, but no pain is being
experienced (a fact which may or may not be
detectable by an external observer)
TWP: Tissue-damage without pain: tissue
damage normally of the sort to cause pain does
not activate the pain system.
86

82. Pain Ontology (PN) branch of MF-EM
Lying
about pain
87

83. Canonical pain
89
canonical
pain
pain
EMOTION COMPONENT CHARACTERISTIC FOR PAIN
Action tendency Withdrawal
Subjective emotional feeling Negative, tense, powerless
Behavioural response Characteristic painful facial
expression
Characteristic appraisal Something is dangerous to me

84. Canonical fear
91
canonical
fear
fear
EMOTION COMPONENT CHARACTERISTIC FOR FEAR
Action tendency Fight-or-flight
Subjective emotional feeling Negative, tense, powerless
Behavioural response Characteristic fearful facial
expression
Characteristic appraisal Something (some real thing) in
my environment is dangerous
to me
subtype

85. Canonical and non-canonical fear
Canonical fear gives rise to action tendencies
that are conformant to a perceived danger
Phobias = dispositions giving rise to non-
canonical fear, e.g. laridaphobia
Another case involving non-canonical fear:
people taking pleasure in watching horror films
92

86. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
object
present
object
absent
Meinong’s treatment of non-veridical
intentionality goes wrong because it
treats it as canonical
the presenting act is targeted on an
object of a special kind (namely: the
non-existent kind)

87. mental process content there is no target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”underlying false belief
non-veridical intentionality is a untidy
collection of non-canonical cases
the presenting act is dependent on an
underlying belief or attitude of one or
other deviant types

88. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object
present
object
absent
non-veridical intentionality
type 1. ontological error
hallucination, deception, …
the presenting act is dependent on a
false underlying belief

89. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object
present
object
absent
non-veridical intentionality
type 2. fiction
thinking-about-Macbeth = the
presenting act is not dependent on
an underlying false belief
“The Substitution Theory of Art”, Grazer Philosophische Studien, 25/26 (1986)

90. in the Macbeth case we are dealing with
the sort of thing that happens when, to
quote Witters, “language goes on
holiday”
97

91. Brentano revolutionizes psychology
Brentano
published Psychology
from an Empirical
Standpoint, 1874
Meinong
founded first laboratory
of experimental
psychology in Austria-
Hungary in 1897
Ehrenfels Husserl Twardowski
founded first
laboratory of experimental
psychologyin Poland in 1907

92. Brentano revolutionizes psychology
Brentano
published Psychology
from an Empirical
Standpoint, 1874
Meinong
founded first laboratory
of experimental
psychology in Austria-
Hungary in 1897
Ehrenfels Husserl Twardowski
founded first
laboratory of experimental
psychologyin Poland in 1907
Wundt
first laboratory of
experimental psychology,
1879

93. Mental Functioning is Neural Functioning:
Towards a Unified Ontology of
Mind, Brain, and Behavior
Gwen A. Frishkoff
Department of Psychology NeuroInformatics Center
Georgia State University University of Oregon

94. Outline of Talk
• What is a mental process?
– A view from cognitive psychology
– The Mind–Brain problem and three proposed
solutions (ontology views)
• A neurophsysiological framework for
understanding mental processes
– Levels of brain, levels of mind
– What are mental representations “about”?
(Proposed solution to problems of subjectivity, aboutness)

95. What is a Mental Process?
A view from cognitive psychology
Short-term memory
Cognitive control
Motor control,
Action
Sensation,
Perception
Long-term Memory
Habits & Skills

96. How do we know any of this?
That is, where did the components of the
standard model come from?

97. • Mental processes cannot be observed.*
• They must be inferred based on what we can observe.
What can we observe?...
*We can revise this assumption later (if Mind = Brain)
The mind as a black box
X

98. • Physical processes in body  Behavior
(response type, accuracy, reaction time)
• Physiological processes in brain 
Neural activity and correlates of neural
activity (blood flow to brain regions)
What we can observe… and How
A schematic of Helmholtz’s apparatus
for measuring the time course of
muscle contraction and the
propagation velocity of the nerve
impulse. Source: Bennett, 1999.
A 256-channel electrode “net” that is used
to measure brain electrical activity (EEG)
CogPO!

99. “A mental process is a neural process.”
• Avoids Mind-Body dualism
• More precise than other two
solutions
• Gives ready framework for
comparative neurophysiology &
comparative cognition
• Knowledge of brain structure &
function informs understanding
of mental function (and
dysfunction)
ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR

100. Mental Functioning Ontology (MF)
110
brainin
endocrine
gland

101. Aboutness
111
brain retina
ENVIRONMENT

103. Levels of brain, levels of mind
Mesulam, 1990
113
Representation, monitoring and
control of internal environment
(“self”)
Representation, monitoring and
control of bodily interface to
external environment
(“real world”)

104. Levels of brain, levels of mind
Mesulam, 1990
114
Representation, monitoring and
control of internal environment
(“self”)
Representation, monitoring and
control of bodily interface to
external environment
(“real world”)
Note use of “sneer” quotes
around “real world” and “self”

105. Mental representations: What are they “about”?
Peripheral (sensory-motor) parts of the body
are “mapped” to (represented by) an orderly
set of discrete regions within sensory and
motor cortex.
Sensory-motor maps in the
brain
The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis
monitors and controls internal bodily functions, such
as blood circulation, breathing, digestion, stress, and
arousal.
Maps of the internal milieux

106. 116
Perception of
internal
(bodily)
environment
(“self”)
Perception of
external
environment/
sensory input
(“real world”)

107. 117
Shimon Edelman‟s
Riddle of Representation
two humans, a monkey, and a robot
are looking at a piece of cheese;
what is common to the representational
processes in their visual systems?

108. 118
Answer:
The cheese, of course

109. 119
The real cheese

110. or objects or processes
inside the body

111. or objects or processes
inside the body
objects and processes inside and
outside the body play a role here too

112. external targets
internal and external features causally
relevant to perception, nociception, etc.
allofthesetogether
formtheenvironment

113. external
targets
internal and external features causally
relevant to perception, nociception, etc.
the arrow of aboutness

114. What is a Mental Process?
A view from cognitive psychology
Short-term memory
Cognitive control
Motor control,
Action
Sensation,
Perception
Long-term Memory
Habits & Skills
All of this is present before there is language

115. What does a temperature chart
represent?
147

116. 148
60
65
70
75
80
85
Time 1 Time 2 Time 3
What does a chart representing your pulse rate represent?

117. Cardiac Cycle, Left Ventricle
149

118. 150
60
65
70
75
80
85
Time 1 Time 2 Time 3
What does a chart of changes in your pulse rate
represent?

119. 151
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
What does a chart of changes in the Dow
Jones industrial average represent?
time

120. 152
activity during this
time interval

121. 153

122. 154
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
time

123. 155
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
time
What this represents is real, and not just “real”

124. coronary heart
disease
John’s coronary heart disease
disease during
phase of
asymptomatic
(‘silent’)
infarction
disease during
phase of early
lesions and
small fibrous
plaques
stable
angina
disease during
phase of
surface
disruption of
plaque
unstable
angina
instantiates
at t1
instantiates
at t2
instantiates
at t3
instantiates
at t4
instantiates
at t5
time 156What this represents is real, and not just “real”

125. What did your temperature do over the last
month, Jim?
Jim’s temperature process profile, the
target of a certain sort of cognitive
selection, or cognitive profiling 157

126. The graph picks out just one dimension of
qualitative change within a much larger
conglomerate of processes within Jim
Hence ‘process profile’ 158

127. Compare perception of polyphonic
music
• Cognitive selection of the cello part when you
listen to a string quartet
• Picking out a certain sonic partial process
within a larger body of vibrations
• Ignoring sneezes, coughs, …
• (or sometimes focusing on sneezes and
coughs for diagnostic purposes)
159

128. Compare perception of polyphonic
music
• Cognitive selection of the cello part when you
listen to a string quartet
• Picking out a certain sonic partial process
within a larger body of vibrations
• Ignoring sneezes, coughs, …
• (or sometimes focusing on sneezes and
coughs for diagnostic purposes)
160

129. time-series graph of acoustic
signal, spectrogram, formants, jaw
displacement and other speech parameters
161

130. adding phonetic, phonemic and syllable levels
162

131. g u t e n
163

132. add brain
164

133. speech is a process profile
the speech process is to the totality of acoustic
signal, spectrogram, formants, jaw
displacement, mental and neurological
processes
as
the pulse rate process is to the totality of
aortic, ventricular and atrial
pressure, ventricular volume, electrical
activity, arterial flow, and other processes in the
heart
165

134. Breakthrough: First sound recordings based on reading
human auditory cortex (PLoS Biology, January 2012)
166

135. Top: spectrogram of words presented to subject.
Middle and bottom: reconstructions of speech based on
readings from electrodes attached to patient's brain.
167

136. Pathway
diagram
Pathway
Reaction
Molecular
collective
Individual
molecule
BFO:Process
BFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO:Disposition
Information
Content Entity
inheres in
explicitly
represents
implicitly
represents
has participant
BULK
MOLECULAR
has grain
BFO: GDC
biological pathways are process profiles

137. mental processes, too, are process profiles
169

138. 177
177
BFO:Entity
BFO:Continuant BFO:Occurrent
BFO:ProcessBFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO
MFO
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
Behaviour
inducing state
Cognitive
Representation
BFO:Quality
Language-
mediated
cognitive
representation
Writing
Bodily Process
BFO:Disposition
Linguistic
competence
Linguistic competence
of a population
= a language Linguistic competence
of an individual
Reading
Speaking
what is a language?
something analogous to a biological
species (a population of competences)

139. • Examples of dispositions that are constantly
being realized:
– stock exchange
– heart beat
– brain activity
– social order
– language (social)
178

140. Investigations on
the Theory of
Objects and
Psychology
with support from
the Imperial-Royal
Minister of Culture
and Education in
Vienna, 1904

141. Horizontal Integration of Warfighter
Intelligence Data
180

142. Horizontal Integration
• “Horizontally integrating warfighter
intelligence data … requires access (including
discovery, search, retrieval, and display) to
intelligence data among the warfighters and
other producers and consumers via
standardized services and architectures.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Instruction J2 CJCSI 3340.02A
1 August 2011

143. Horizontal integration
=def. multiple heterogeneous data resources
become aligned in such a way that search and
analysis procedures can be applied to their
combined content as if they formed a single
resource

144. Unclassified
Unclassified
Command and Control Ontology
Army Fires Plan
Army Maneuver Plan
Naval Fires Plan
Definition: An information
content entity that is a
specification of events that are
to occur in order to obtain some
objective.
183

145. Unclassified
Unclassified
Command and Control Ontology
Situational
Awareness
Situational
Understanding
Commander‟s Intent
…
184

146. Horizontal integration
=def. multiple heterogeneous data resources
become aligned through association with
common ontology terms in such a way that
search and analysis procedures can be applied
to their combined content as if they formed a
single resource

147. =def. multiple heterogeneous data resources
become aligned through association with
common ontology terms in such a way that
search and analysis procedures can be applied
to their combined content as if they formed a
single resource
Semantic Technology in Intelligence, Defense and Security, 2012