Category: Ontology

Abstract

The term data model refers to a construction methodology for a given database. There are two primary methods that can be used to come up with such a model, these are, Object model and Entity Relationship (Greiner et al, 2001). The objective of the data model is to ensure that the presentation of all the information needed by the database is complete and accurate. Ontology is the main focus and this report attempts to strike a comparison between the ontology models and the object oriented models with an aim of showing the areas in which ontology modeling is more superior. It should also be noted that there are some sort of similarities between the objects as seen in the object models and concepts/classes that are found in the ontology models (Gruber, 1993). Ontology may also assist in construction of a given object model. In essence object modeling is the key part of general data modeling, while ontology carries the concept that constitutes the foundation of its knowledge. Due to the close linkages between ontology and the recently developed object-oriented models, it is advisable to adopt strategies that would have the current object-oriented software design approaches integrated with the ongoing ontology development.

Background

This is the organized representation of the information that the database requires including the information objects, the linkages in between the information objects and the guidelines that are used in the running of the relevant objects’ operations (Gruber, 1993). The data models provide the link between the ideas that constitutes the practical real world activities and the actual representation of those ideas in a database. The designing of the database normally takes five simple step; Planning, concept development, logical designing, physical designing and finally the implementation of the completed database content. Data model gets its input data from the first database design stage of planning. At this stage the software experts gets the data concerning the database through reviews of the available documents and direct feedback from the end-users. The only output from a data model is a representation of information structures that are referred to as object model, this is preferably in a picture form picture the picture can pass the message more easily than the other forms like the written form. The next step is to model and analyze the objects by use of object diagrams (Gruber, 1993). These object diagrams can undergo some review by the end users and the software experts to ensure that they are complete, accurate and validate their respective attributes. For example, given this information; Teacher teaches in a number of subjects that are allocated by the school. As to whether “teacher” should be an object or an attribute in the model will depend on the purpose into which the database will be employed in which it may qualify as an attribute in some of the uses and as an object in others.

Ontology is the idea that is utilized by the domain users uniquely to pass important information. This is becoming a very important tool to cope with information of diverse forms and has therefore become the preferred method of data modeling in all the fields of software engineering (Greiner et al, 2001). Ontology has also found great significance in the semantic web construction that utilizes high levels of information structures. Ontology is also well known in the field of philosophy researches since 1960’s, as well as in the intelligence being mainly focused in knowledge modeling. In broader terms the term ontology basically refers to clear specification of a conceptualization, primarily for a domain (Maedche, 2003).

Thesis

This paper explores the nature of ontology as it outlines the similarities and the main differences between ontology models and other data models.

Ontology modeling versus data model and object oriented models

Ontology and data modeling are known to have a representation of a domain knowledge base, however they show basic differences based on their practical applications, the overall knowledge contents, demonstrative power and the level of their operations (Gruber, 1993). The variation of Ontology from data modeling can be based on it’s over all dependency on the application in which it has been designed for. Basically data models are meant to accomplish specific purposes and for this reason they largely show dependence on the task that they are meant to perform. In data modeling, the users and objectives of the model dictates the model processing as well as the degree in which detailed description by the model. In the other hand ontology is always generic and is not driven by the task requirements (Gruber, 1993). Very minimum task considerations are evaluated during its design phase. For example, a significant attribute of a human gene is that it offers a unique protein based code. In case this knowledge is not required by the application in case of data modeling, it can be excluded from the design. However, in ontology a representation of agreeable and shared information is essential. Therefore in our gene ontology it is very significant to include the represented protein genes. In that way, the ontology shall be comprised of quite generic information that can often be reused later in other diverse applications to fulfill other different purposes, hence giving ontology a superior advantage over the other models (Spyns et al 2002).

Another way in which ontology differs from the other models is on the quantity and type of knowledge coverage. Whereas data models centers on the establishment of linkages between the database and their respective concepts, the ontology is mainly focused on comprehending by the user, of the knowledge displayed by the model (Greiner et al, 2001). Therefore, ontology is a complete and precise representation of ideas and their linkages. It is considered as the driving coding of a computer network, this is because the knowledge that is considered to be true through a given domain needs not to change significantly in terms of the way it gets organized for storage in a computer network.

Ontology has been seen to have a greater expressive power potential than the other models. Whereas the data models are constructed using common language, ontology constructs utilizes much more expressive language that has the potential of giving expressions to other diverse variables for example taxonomy and inferencing. Ontology model therefore, has the design that keeps the domain conceptualization at high level of precision (Greiner et al, 2001).

Another powerful tool and attribute of ontology is that due to its generic nature and its unique independence from the task and purpose, it operates at a relatively high degree of abstraction (Maedche, 2003). The other data modeling comparatively operates at low levels. For example, a data model can represent a car database based on its physical attributes and a different spare parts database for the same cars probably with some similar attributes like the make and model of the car. This data based models will only have a very narrowed and fixed views of the overall dimension in which the end user would need to be reflected. However the ontology option of the car and spare parts databases can be designed in such a way that the common knowledge between the two databases is linked together for expressive sharing. The shared knowledge and attributes of both databases will run at high levels of abstraction and at the same time, the design will be independent from the specific inbuilt applications that run on both databases. These differences between the ontology and data models are useful tools for modelers and designers for they guide their work in maintaining focus on the stipulated objectives of the desired project (Maedche, 2003).

Ontology modeling parts

The term ontology refers to the study of the types of elements that exist or have the potential of existing in some given domain (Gruber, 1993). Ontology therefore offers a description of the primary concepts within a domain and outlines the relationship among such concepts. Ontology basically consists of ideological concepts and the characteristics of each of these concepts with a description of the concept features and their restrictions on facets. Following is a discussion of ontology model parts that makes it more semantically richer than the other models.

Concept/class

A class represents objects concepts that can either be in groups, sets or collections of objects. The concepts need to be closely linked to the objects and linkages in the domain of interest. The concepts in most cases are represented by nouns for the objects and verbs for the relationships in the description of the domain. Concepts of related terms are well defined in a class and each class can have many subclasses (Gruber, 1993). A class description defines slots and values of the class itself.

Slots/ Facets

Most terms, have own slots that are used to describe the characteristics of the term. We sometimes have instances slot that describes a characteristic of an instances of the class. A slot is used to describe linkages between two terms. The first term must be the domain of the slot and the second term the range of the slot. For example corolla could be represented as a slot such that its domain was car models and its rage was Toyota model. The scope of ontology is defined by a continuous generation of terms. The scope is determined by what we finally decide to include and exclude in the definition. Characteristics of classes can be represented by slots and restrictions on characteristics or linkages between classes and or slots by slot facets (Greiner et al, 2001).

Axioms

Sentences belonging to the 1^st order logic that cannot be represented using slots and values on a frame are referred to as axioms (Gruber, 1993). They are generally taken to be true with no documentation of proof. Axioms are represented in prefix form indicating its logic status. (Gruber, 1993).

Instances

These are particular entities derived from the domain base to comprise the primary elements of ontology as contained in defined objects like cars and abstract objects like words. (Gruber, 1993).

Relationship

A relation indicates a linkage between two or more terms in a model. If the linkage is only between two terms then it is normally referred to as a slot or binary relation. On the other had we have a description of relationship of n terms in that there is an n^th term that corresponds to a given group of the n-1 terms, such a linkage is known as function (Gruber, 1993). Introduction of relations in ontology constitutes conversions of structures that are easy to comprehend into complex ones that are difficult to interpret. As a result, entities may have more than one source. Ontologies further refine the modeled semantics by increasing the number of parts in the relationship in such a way that they become useful in answering particular questions that are based on a specific domain. (Gruber, 1993).

Functions

A relation that relates a given set of terms to specified second set of terms is referred as a function. In such a relation, there are no group-sets of n terms are comprised of the same initial n-1 terms. A special function that comprises of only two terms can be referred to as a slot (Gruber, 1993).

Standards and language

Semantic web is one of the most recent online advancement which works as an extension of the existing system and helps in giving quality definitions of activities and linkages that enable users to work in cooperation. Ontology modeling is so much involved in formation of description and relationships of high precision on the web information and thereby creating workable linkages for users at different geographical stations. Therefore semantic web can significantly be seen as a set of ontologies that create a web environment where users can make use of availed objects and present it for re-use by different applications. (Gruber, 1993).

Ontology based illustrations

Examples based on the ontology model are illustrated here to demonstrate the modeling concepts that represent part of trust ontology. Figure 1 depicts a human relationship that links various entities that are specific to linkages between the provider and the client so as to constitute a typical business relationship. Figure 2 indicates instances of the depicted business relationship. It can be deduced from the ontology illustration that the partnership between Carol and Joy is that of business relationship with a trust value indicated as 4.

Conclusion

This paper has explored the ontology modeling and has compared the model with the other data based model to critically examine its superiority over them. The attributes of the ontology model have been represented in details to show the characteristics that makes the model semantically richer than the other models.

List of references

Greiner, R., Darken, C. and Santoso, N. I. (2001): Efficient reasoning. ACM Computing Surveys 33(1):1–30.

Gruber, T.R. (1993): A translation approach to portable ontology specification, Knowledge Acquisition: pp. 199-220.

Maedche, A.D. (2003): Ontology Learning for the Semantic Web. Norwell, Massachusetts, Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Spyns, P., Meersman, R. and Jarrar, M. (2002): Data modelling versus Ontology engineering. SIGMOD Record 31(4):7-12.

The introduction

While discussing the teleological argument for God’s existence, some fundamentals of the philosophical issue must be considered. First of all, it is necessary to point out that there are a lot of contradictions concerning the existence of God. For instance, one is to keep in mind that the so-called ontological vision is recognized to be one of the most reliable arguments, which proves the existence of the Sole Supreme Being (Graham par. 1).

It is also necessary to state that there were many famous philosophers who believed in Supreme Power and denied the impact of evolution on the Universe creation. On the other hand, it should be noted that the supporters of the opposite opinion had their own arguments, which rejected the idea of God’s existence.

Thus, William Paley is considered to be a philosopher, who belongs to the first category. The Teleological Argument created by Paley gives us an opportunity to analyze the so-called pros of the philosophical issue; while the works written by other-minded philosophers provide us with important data, which influence our evaluation of Paley’s worldview.

The thesis statement

The Teleological Argument is considered to be one of the most important philosophical works, which shows proofs of God’s existence. To analyze the details of Paley’s work and understand his reasoning, one is to be familiar with some opposite views.

The body

The fundamentals of Paley’s worldview

Generally, it must be pointed out that Paley’s teleological argument is based on logical reasoning. For instance, one can notice that the author mostly relies on comparison in his judgment. Thus, he provides us with the simplest example, comparing the history of stone origin and making a watch. At first sight, it seems that the issues have nothing in common and cannot be compared at all.

However, philosophy represents the most unusual ways various things can be analyzed and contrasted. In other words, the explanation of the philosophical difference between the two objects is following: if one stumbles on a stone, he or she will not be able to say for sure, where a stone appeared from.

It is also absurd to suggest that a stone has always been there. So, the only possible answer is that it was created by a powerful maker. Correspondingly, when speaking about a watch, one can make a conclusion that a watch is made by somebody, it is made by human being.

Thus, taking into account the above-mentioned suggestions, it becomes obvious that the Universe appeared, because it was also created by somebody. In other words, the complexity of the world implies the existence of God (or the Universe-maker) as well as the complexity of a certain mechanism also implies the existence of a mender, etc.

The major points of the philosopher’s argument

Of course, one is to keep in mind that Paley’s reasoning is considered to be full of meaning, as it is based on certain objections. In other words, one cannot deny the existence of God, because he or she has never seen the Universe-maker. Generally, it is not important whether you know the creator, or no. The most important thing, however, is that the creator exists regardless of our knowledge about him.

On the other hand, according to another objection, one can probably say that to create a watch, many people are to be involved into the process. Thus, the construction of a mechanism requires the skills of miners, distributers, etc. So, correspondently, it seems that there should be many Gods to create the Universe. In my opinion, the second objection is not easy to dispute.

However, the philosopher says that unfortunately, the mechanism various people created cannot work perfectly; so, one can state that the same can be said about the word we live in. Still, the following counter-objection is recognized to be one of the most serious problems philosophy faces.

While speaking about Paley’s existence of God, it becomes evident that the problem of evil prejudices the existence of the Universe-maker. Thus, the complexity of the mechanism is compared with extremely simple structure of a stone. But what thing can be compared with the complexity of our world? – The issue is still to be discussed.

Generally, the problem of evil was studied by many philosophers; however, I would like to highlight some important points David Hume presented. Thus, he recognized certain Circumstances Evil is created by. For instance, the author states that “Pains and Pleasures are employ’d to excite all Creatures to Action, and make them vigilant in the great Work of Self-preservation” (Hume 50). That is probably one of the key points of Hume’s work.

Other counter-arguments should be also discussed. One can state that the mechanism can require numerous functions, which were not originally designed. The same can be said about the Universe. However, the philosopher points out that it is not important whether one is familiar with the functions of a mechanism or no. The functions can exist, regardless of our knowledge about them.

The most important thing is the main purpose of the issue. However, “there are few Parts of the Universe, which seem not to serve some purpose, and whose Removal wou’d not produce a visible Defect and Disorder in the Whole” (Hume 52). For this reason, one can make a conclusion that the main purpose of a watch seems to be obvious, but the main purpose of our world is still unknown.

As far as a mechanism can be constructed in numerous ways, it can be regarded as the so-called chance event. The same can be said about the Universe. According to Paley, the design cannot be regarded as a chance event. The supposition seems to be absurd and has no sense.

On the other hand, one can say that Paley’s argument has no sense, as human mind functions in such a way that everything can be regarded differently, and a certain order can be imposed on things irrespective of such order’s presence.

Our world functions on the basis of certain principles and laws. Paley rejects the view and says that principles cannot influence the existence of the Universe. However, the philosopher seems to see no difference between descriptive law and prescriptive one.

“The mechanism of the watch was no proof of contrivance, only a motive to induce the mind to think so” (Paley 49). The basic idea of the response is considered to be the obviousness of the Universe for people who are not prejudiced towards or against certain views. However, the philosopher did not take into consideration the relations human mind establishes all over.

The existence of the world is considered to be an outcome of sets of rules of metallic nature. The philosopher still does not differentiate between descriptive laws and prescriptive ones.

Nobody realizes what matter is. Paley, however, states that the process of observing allows us to become familiar with the design. On the other hand, one is to keep in mind that the philosopher’s statement has no proof. For this reason, it is evident that the issue is still to be discussed.

The conclusion

Paley’s Design Argument is based both on logical assumptions and empirical findings. However, certain counter-arguments cannot be neglected, as they are not disputed; thus, numerous issues are to be discussed. One is to keep in mind that it is still impossible to say for sure whether God exists or no.

Works Cited

Graham, Oppy. “Ontological Arguments.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2011). Web. <https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ontological-arguments/>.

Hume, David. Why Does God Let People Suffer? Oxford, Clarendon Press: 1976. Print.

Paley, William. The Teleological Argument, New York, American Tract Society: 1852. Print.

Introduction

One of the earliest ontological arguments, in defense of the de facto existence of God, is that of Anselm of Canterbury (St. Anselm). As of today, it is being often referred to as such that contributed rather substantially towards the theological legitimization of Christianity during the Dark Ages. Nevertheless, even though St. Anselm’s argument does make a certain logical sense, it is far from being considered as such that represents an undisputed truth-value. In this paper, I will aim to explain why it happened to be the case.

Main body

Discursively speaking, the mentioned argument in defense of the existence of God, can be best defined as being thoroughly deductive. Its sub-sequential phases are as follows:

1. It is thoroughly plausible to presuppose that, being the cause of all effects, God is something of which nothing can be greater.
2. Given the fact that the above-idea is thoroughly comprehensible, it will be logical to assume that God does exist in people’s minds as a ‘thing in itself’.
3. It will also be fully appropriate to assume that something that exists in people’s minds, on one hand, and as the part of the surrounding reality, on the other, is necessarily greater (superior) to what exists merely as an abstract idea.
4. If God existed merely in people’s minds, they would be able to conceive (mentally) the entity much greater than what the concept of an omnipresent deity stands for.
5. It is utterly impossible for just about anyone to imagine such an entity, which in turn implies that God does not only exist as an abstract idea but also as the surrounding reality’s integral part (Malcolm 43).

Nevertheless, there are indeed a number of reasons to think of St. Anselm’s line of argumentation, in this respect, as being conceptually fallacious. Probably the first person, who realized that this is indeed being the case, was the theologian’s contemporary Gaunilo. According to him, while using St. Anselm’s logic, it is thoroughly possible to prove the factual existence of the heavenly island (much more beautiful than the most ‘paradisiacal’ island that people have ever seen with their eyes).

The reason for this is that the idea of such an island does exist is well conceivable – quite contrary to the fact that there is not even a single objective proof that the concerned place is there to be found in reality. After all: “Since a perfect island that exists in the understanding and in reality is a greater island than one that exists in the understanding alone, a perfect island must exist” (“Module 3 Lecture Notes” 1). Gaunilo’s objection, however, does not appear thoroughly sound, either.

The reason for this is that it is based on the axiomatic (non-provable) assumption that whatever exists objectively is necessarily ‘greater’ to what exists as merely an abstract idea. For whatever reason, both: St. Anselm and Gaunilo were tempted to think of the notions of ‘existence’ and ‘perfection’, as such that organically derive out of each other. Yet, there can be no good rationale to consider the mentioned line of thinking even partially sound – something that can be easily shown, in regards to the existence of those individuals who can hardly be considered ‘perfect’.

Therefore, when it comes to exposing the fallaciousness of St. Anselm’s argument, one would be much better off referring to the so-called ‘theorem of incompleteness’ by Kurt Godel (Gorman, Sokol, and Wayne 1053). According to it, just about any argumentative system of reasoning, based upon the set of axiomatic assumptions (such as ‘God exists’ or ‘God does not exist’), can be defined as being either incomplete or self-contradictory.

The first of these definitions refer to such a system, within the methodological framework of which, a particular suggestion can be proven neither valid nor erroneous. The second definition refers to such a system, within the methodological framework of which, a particular suggestion can be proven simultaneously both: valid and erroneous. Nevertheless, as we are well aware, the reality’s observable emanations can be the least referred to as be being self-contradictory. After all, it would prove rather impossible to suggest that a physical object (for example) happened to be existent and non-existent at the same time.

What it means is that, in order to be consistent with how the universe operates (and hence – more of less discursively legitimate), the ontological statements must be observable of the possibility that they are in fact incomplete. This, in fact, can be defined as the main principle of science – even though humanity’s scientific knowledge is thoroughly objective (something that can be illustrated, in regards to the ongoing technological progress), it cannot possibly be referred to as being ‘all-encompassing’.

Moreover, there can be no end to the process of people learning more and more about nature’s actual essence, which in turn creates the objective preconditions for humanity to periodically reassess the validity of the previously legitimate scientific theories. However, the introduction of God (the ultimate reason behind all reasons), as the argumentative system’s main cornerstone, automatically makes it complete. The reason for this is that the existence of God, whose ways are mysterious, makes it quite possible to prove the validity of just about any idea/suggestion – regardless of how implausible it appears to be.

The fact that, as recently back as a few centuries ago, Christians believed that the torturing and killing of infidels/heretics was a thoroughly ‘godly’ deed, proves the soundness of this suggestion perfectly well. Nevertheless, as it was pointed out earlier, one’s complete (religious) perceptually-cognitive worldview is necessarily self-contradictory. In other words, if one were to assume that God indeed exists, he or she would be consequently forced to assume that the surrounding reality is full of contradictions, which in turn would make it possible for effects to define their own causes. Yet, one does not have to be a philosopher to realize that this is far from being the actual case, otherwise people would be able to walk through walls and it would be possible to boil water by the mean of placing it in the deep-freezer.

What it means is there is no God – at least in the sense of an omnipotent deity. The reason for this is that the existence of such a deity would prove inconsistent with the existence of nature, as we know it. It is either God or nature. Yet, since the existence of the latter has been well-confirmed, the existence of the former remains the subject of speculations. Thus, contrary to what St. Anselm used to believe, God is in fact nothing but an abstract idea, which has very little to do with the actual ways of the world.

What has been said earlier allows us to speculate, as to what can be deemed the actual reason why, despite being logically sound, St. Anselm’s argument does not appear to hold much water – the fact that this argument is essentially a ‘sophistic’ one. After all, while deploying St. Anselm’s deductive approach to confirming the existence of God, one will also be able to prove that, after having left the barrel of a gun, a bullet never ceases being suspended in the year, which in turn prevents it from being able to reach its target.

The reason for this is that, in theory, the distance between the gun and the target can be divided into an indefinite number of ‘stretches’, which means that it will take this bullet an indefinite amount of time, in order to go through each of these ‘stretches’, before reaching the target. Apparently, it never occurred to St. Anselm that it does not make much of a sense, whatsoever, considering one’s mental projections of some abstract ideas, as such that are being necessarily reflective of the surrounding reality’s manifestations, in the first place – something that today’s psychiatrists are being well aware of.

Conclusion

I believe that the deployed line of reasoning, in defense of the suggestion that St. Anselm’s argument is irredeemably fallacious, correlates with the paper’s initial thesis perfectly well. Apparently, there is indeed very little reason to believe in God’s existence, simply because people are intuitively inclined to think that there must have been some intelligent/omnipotent cause behind everything. After all, as it was shown earlier, if there was indeed such a cause, the universe would not be functioning in the way it does. What it means is that one’s belief in God is nothing but the indication that the concerned person is cognitively infantile – pure and simple.

Works Cited

Gorman, David, Sokol, Brian and David Wayne. “Godel’s Theorem.” PMLA 110.5 (1995): 1053-1056. Print.

Malcolm, Norman. “Anselm’s Ontological Arguments.” The Philosophical Review 69.1 (1960): 41-62. Print.

Module 3 Lecture Notes. Print.

It is worth noting that, guided by the scientific methods of cognition, Rene Descartes came to a skeptical but boundless trust in human mind. He argued that the path to philosophy lied precisely in doubt in connection with the need to question both feelings and thoughts. In this case, the actual fact of doubt will be unquestionable (Ariew, 2014). The thinker considered this approach to philosophy more reliable than mathematical intuition. Assuming that the presence of thinking presupposed the existence of spirit, Descartes had built his ontological approach based on this relationship. One of the branches of his ontological thought was the discussion of the existence of God. The philosopher searched for an explanation for this phenomenon and tried to argue for the existence of the Supreme Being. The purpose of this paper is review and analyze the arguments Rene Descartes provided to evidence the existence of God.

Descartes’ Reasoning

Trying to find an explanation for the existence of God, Descartes came to an idea of an innate nature of knowledge. Despite the fact that many researchers emphasize the fallacy of such reasoning, this understanding was not absurd due to the fact that people, as a rule, rely on the knowledge of previous generations and do not question the truthfulness of admonitions or beliefs (Ariew, 2014). However, the philosopher sought for a comprehensive explanation, looking for the proof of the authenticity of human knowledge about the external world.

Initially, Descartes tried to find arguments proving the existence of God explaining it by the fact that God was an essential intermediary element between humans and nature. Moreover, God acted as a guarantor of the existence of the world. In this connection, Descartes assumed that God was the source of truth and was opposed to lies and deceit (Croft, 2013). Therefore, the first proof of the existence of the Supreme Being Descartes considered the inadmissibility of lies. The next argument was that it was God solely who was able to instill in people’s souls an understanding of what was a supremely perfect being. In addition, another evidence was the concept of rationalism. Respectively, according to Rene Descartes, no thinking or rational person could assert that there was no God (Hatfield, 2014). Notably, many successive thinkers, as well as researchers, indicated that the latter argument was of medieval scholastic character.

Another Argument

It is worth noting that all the three arguments described above can be considered subjective and questionable, and they are not logical enough because of the lack of evidence to sustain such reasoning. In this regard, Rene Descartes introduced another justification in support of his position. He derived this argument from his theory of doubt. According to the thinker, the essence of doubt (as the basis of thinking) confirmed the intuitive existence of supremely perfect being; respectively, God existed beyond all doubt (Croft, 2013). Thus, introducing this fourth argument, Descartes summed up all the previous principles. Referring to the facts that God was the guarantor of reliability and intuition generated the truth, God existed in connection with the allusion to the intuitive discretion of the human mind.

Counterargument

Nevertheless, this approach to ontology revealed another perspective, which proved the dependence of God’s existence on the human mind and its actions. It is important to emphasize that following this rationalization, the philosopher came to the principle of deism. Deism states that the existence of God cannot change the actual composition of the past and cannot affect the laws of nature that were also determined by God (Jaspers, 2013). In this context, God is the creator who has endowed the world with the essence, though the Supreme Being is unable to influence the further development of nature. God preserves nature and the truth of knowledge and ensures the inviolability of natural laws.

Nevertheless, in parallel with his argument, Descartes called into question the fact whether God created the world. The structure of the physical world presupposes the possibility of the emergence of nature without the initiative and power of God. It is essential to emphasize that Rene Descartes noted the extensiveness and space that nature occupied, in which there were no voids, and only material objects had such a characteristic according to his philosophy and worldview (Williams, 2014). Therefore, the presence of physical structure and mathematical properties of the world indicated that God did not create the nature.

Core of Reasoning

It should be noted that in his philosophy, Descartes stressed that he did not have a criterion for determining whether he was conscious or in a state of a dream. Relying on this leitmotif, the only statement, which could be made, was that doubting the reality of the existence of the external world was reasonable. Descartes was convinced that the idea of God as a perfect being was a natural conclusion of human thinking (Dicker, 2013). The experience acquired by a person has proved the imperfection and limitations of people and their mind; however, this idea was inherent in people due to the fact that the notion was embedded in them from outside. Descartes came to an understanding that the idea of humans’ imperfection was instilled by God solely as the creator who designed humankind and put into their minds the notion of God as a perfect being (Dicker, 2013). In turn, this approach implied the existence of an external world as an object of human cognition. God could not deceive people, and the created world had to follow to the immutable laws that the human mind needed to comprehend. Thus, God served as a pledge of understanding the world and the objectivity of knowledge, and the recognition of the Supreme Being would allow people to attain confidence in human mind.

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that Rene Descartes provided several arguments to prove the existence of God. Firstly, he emphasized that God was a perfect being while people were imperfect and this idea suggested that it should be perfect to exist rather than the reverse. This argument was ontological in character. The second reasoning lied within the distinction between two types of reality the finite and infinite one. According to this concept, objects or things that have concrete or formal nature belong to finite reality. For instance, a stone has formal reality; therefore, it is finite. In the same manner, the idea of Supreme Being is objective as well as its infinite formal substantiality. The third argument rooted from logical principles. Rene Descartes considered that it was impossible that an idea could emerge out of nowhere and this notion had such attributes as cause and effect. Therefore, due to the fact that people had a concept of the Supreme Being, it evidenced the existence of God.

References

Ariew, R. (2014). Descartes and the first Cartesians. London, UK: Oxford University Press.

Croft, N. (2013). The Descartes legacy. London, UK: Entangled Publishing.

Dicker, G. (2013). Descartes. New York, NY: OUP USA.

Hatfield, G. (2014). The Routledge guidebook to Descartes’ meditations. New York, NY: Routledge.

Jaspers, K. (2013). Leonardo, Descartes, Max Weber. New York, NY: Routledge.

Williams, B. (2014). Descartes. New York, NY: Routledge.

According to Heidegger (2006, p. 48), the term ontology has attracted various definitions from various scholars. However, all these definition share the fact that ontology basically means existence or state of being or a reality. Ontology as a name was developed from a Greek word ‘onto’ which means ‘being’ or ‘that which is.’

Ontology is a branch of metaphysics that deals with issues about the existence of entities, and how these entities may possibly be grouped based on their similarities and differences and on their hierarchy. Ontology has been very popular in philosophy. It helps in defining existence of various beings in the world.

Philosophers have been trying to explain the existence of various beings and how they are related to each other in the world. It is interesting to understand the existence of various being and the hierarchical relationship with other beings. It is through ontology that this can be brought to a clear focus for one to understand this existence and the relationships they have.

Ontology can be classified into a number of ways using various criteria such as field of application or degree of abstraction (Hacking 2004, p. 84). This scholar emphasizes that the criteria used in this classification may vary depending on the approach one gives to this analysis or what one seeks to obtain from the process.

Plato is one of the philosophers who have been lauded to have helped in the development of ontology. Ontology can be classified as upper ontology, domain ontology, interface ontology and process ontology. Each class has specific states of being as described below.

Upper ontology involves the concepts which support the development of a given ontology. Domain ontology involves concepts which are relevant to a particular area of interest such as science, computer languages, and information technology among others. Interface ontology is always used when dealing with a scenario where two disciples are involved.

Process ontology on the other hand involves the inputs, outputs, the constraints, information among other factors in a business process. These classifications are important in helping understand ontology and how it is relevant in analyzing various states of being.

Plato was concerned of with making the society understand reality from illusion. According to Plato, sometimes an illusion can be so real that it may be considered a reality (Hacking 2004, p. 76). Using ontology, Plato was interested in bringing forth ways through which illusions could be distinguished from realities. This is because the state o mind can be very deceptive at times. The mind can transform an illusion into what appears to be a reality, especially if the involved party has an obsession over the issue.

The mind is an engine that knows how to create a leveled ground when there is a dire need for it. However, Plato insisted that realities are eternal and cannot change, while illusions can easily be changed based on what is desired because they are fake. Aristotle further enhanced ontology by bringing four ontological dimensions that is slightly different from what his teacher Plato, had given before.

The first category is based on ways or categories in which a being is addressed. The second category is the truthfulness or falsity of a being or state such as counterfeit gold. The third category is the possibility of a state existing independently or by chance. The last category is the potency of the state or its presence.

List of References

Hacking, I 2004, Historical ontology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

Heidegger, M 2006, Ontology: The hermeneutics of facticity, Indiana University Press, Bloomington.

The epistemology of Thomas Hobbes is based on the sociology of knowledge, understanding the contexts of constructed reality and social contracts and boundaries which define his argument. However, examining the text, it can be argued that Hobbes was more of an intuitionist than a nominalist, affirming the existence of abstract concepts. Other literature suggests Hobbes was a nominalist, reducing the universal concept to definitions and terms which also depended on human will and perceptions. Nevertheless, Hobbes seems to distinguish his writings on the Law of Nature from realistic conditions, with the philosophy based on maxims of the knowledge of human nature and behavior that apply moral precepts on science as the knowledge of causes.

In his article, Weber states “the nature of the relationship of scientific work and its presuppositions varies widely according to their structure” (Gerth and Mills 9). He goes on to argue that although certain sciences collect technical data on laws of cosmic events, it does inherently prove the existence of meaning or sense of such as world. Hobbes does not create an exact science around his laws of nature argument but builds a logical thesis based on the social and internal conditions of humans that present an explanation of particular forces, laws, or influences. However, his epistemology seeks to develop the ontology of the state of nature-based complex forms of social contracts and behaviors in mankind reduced to computational reasoning. Hobbes supported in his argument for the implementation of computational mechanisms for defining laws of nature and mental processes.

Hobbes’ presentation of natural law is inherently considered positivistic as his work is often viewed as a forerunner to legal positivism. From a legal perspective, Hobbes argues that the skill of recognizing social rules as the law of nature is directly correlated to institutional law. Natural law creates reason and justification to build a realistic system of positive law, establishing an artificial and effective legal order. Therefore, based on this argument, it can be suggested that Hobbes was a positivist, as his epistemology sought to make sense of the social contexts and sciences, applying elements of rationalism through intuitionist perspectives as well as the structure of the scientific method to study social life.

Positivism supports that true knowledge is achieved through sense perception and logical deduction that determine patterns and categories. Hobbes builds his description of the state of nature-based on moral precepts, “And consequently it is a precept, or general rule of reason: that every man ought to endeavour peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it” (Hobbes 2). In Leviathan, Hobbes maintained an approach of establishing a philosophical logical basis to social psychology, providing secular explanations to the political state and interactions of people with the government and each other. The human motivations were explained through mechanistic principles in a metaphysical thought experiment of his Social Contract Theory.

Works Cited

Gerth, Hans, and C. Wright Mills, editors. Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. Oxford University Press, 1946.

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Penguin Books, 2017.

Deleuze’s work Pleats of Matter investigates the ontology of folds, pleats, bends and their application for enveloping, distortion and collapsing. This work depicts the overflow of trajectories and clash of the process, where their layers are vaguely presented or revealed in the deformed state (Deleuze 17). Here the shape and form are secondary products of lines bending into one another, where folds are developed and created to a different extent where one form can be quickly transformed into another form. As the fold is capable of infinite divisions, there should be the power that can produce the limits for infinity. This power can be presented as the compressive force of the university contributing to the return of all pleats of the matter to the surrounded area. The likening to such natural phenomena as the maelstrom or the see foam, folds are subjected to the vertical principle where one fold triggers another.

The principle of constant fluidity is also achieved through the possibility of folds to create other folded parts endlessly. Deleuze also notes that two displays of the fold are explained and determined by the surrounding actors and their pressure that identify their hardness (19). Therefore, the author renders Leibniz’s idea that each material has its absolute hardness which is revealed through the number of folds, which, in their turn, are not separated into the parts but divided into smaller parts. In this way, the pleats of the matter can be connected with alive organisms where the development of a living being is an infinite division of folds or pleating. Despite the process of pleating and separating, each level of the organic system forms a cohesion (Deleuze 18). Hence, the first layer of folds, which is defined by Deleuze by the folds in the soul, is always self-motivated whereas the upper level is formed under the influence of the external forces of compression. Therefore, the internal forces are always directional where the external folds are retained by friction.

Analyzing Kipnis’s work through the prism of the nature of beings, there is an idea that the New Architecture is based on the withdrawal of the old ones. However, there is an opinion that the new architectural techniques are based on the combination of all forms which have been proclaimed as the new methods of building strategies. To prove either of these, Kipnis explains the nature of forms and tries to differentiate between the novelty of the form and the constellation of collage (100). At this point, the leading role belongs to the force of heterogeneity, which cannot be applied to the form of collage. Heterogeneity imparts the collage with the possibility of exhaustion, which is the sign of usage of the old forms.

Another force directed at protesting the old forms is an inscription of spatial models, as a means of rapture and discontinuity. The space characteristics also contradict the existence of forms and the possibility of reaching the equilibrium between the infinite space and fixed limits of finite space. The pointing and projecting serve for the production of new forms and spaces. The projecting involves the principle of distortion contributing to the formation of spatial residues, as the main outcome of heterogeneity of forms.

On whole, both architects consider the Baroque’s nature of forms through different explanations of forces affecting them. In particular, Deleuze puts an emphasis on the analysis of folds and their internal and external representation whereas Kipnis is more focused on the presentation of spatial residues as the result of form distortion acquiring the function of deformation and information.

Works Cited

Deleuze, Gillez. ‘Pleats of Matter’. The Fold – Leibniz and the Baroque. US: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006.

Kipnis, Jeffrey. Towards A New Architecture. 2010. Web.

Introduction

Literary works including novels, short stories, narratives and poems provides us with lenses through which we can see and understand deeply various cultural, social and political aspects of our society which are critical to our societal well-being. They are a mirror through which a society can attain self realization more so in relation to its desired destiny in terms of development.

Academically, they are usually a creative and constructive way of criticizing evils such as corruption, impunity, gender violence, and discrimination among others which are understandably a stumbling block to realization of societal dreams in the eyes of the wise people and intellectuals, as well as, political leaders of good will. Due to their critical contribution towards progress of a society authors should strive to be clear in their writings so that readers of different intellectual and educational calibre can understand what they are trying to put across through their works.

They are however professionally expected to maintain high levels of creativity and linguistic masterly. This expectation together with other factors leads to difficulties of communication between an author or a poet and his or her target audience.

These reading difficulties have been categorized as tactical, contingent, modal and ontological difficulties. The purpose of this paper is to discuss ontological difficulty in Barbara Johnson’s reader response essay titled “Apostrophe, Animation, and Abortion” and Louis Marin’s structuralist essay titled “Disney: A Degenerate Utopia.”

“Apostrophe, Animation, and Abortion” by Barbara Johnson

A difficulty in literary criticism in negative terms refers to an element of writing that points to or indicative of a rift between a poet or an author and the reader (Shetley 1932).However, it is important to note that just like conflict is a way of sociation, so difficulty which in literary studies connotes lack or breakdown of communication is itself a form of communication (Shetley 1932). In other words, difficulty itself communicates if nothing else in a poem or another piece of literary work.

Difficulty also serves as a deliberate instrument used by writers and poets in choosing readers with whom the poet have something in common out of a vague reading public. It also functioned to educate and instruct the public in the kinds of demands that the work of a poet is made of (Shetley 1932).Ontological difficulty of content refers to a cultural gap between author and reader.

A poet or an author may be from or might represent a culture that is absolutely strange to the audience. Consequently, the reader must strive to make all types of imaginative hurdles and learn many things in order to be at home with and in the literary piece be it a narrative or a poem or even an essay.

Barbara uses her reader response essay to explain effects of rhetoric in literary works by analyzing different poems written by different poets at different times. Unlike other literary theories reader response school of thought empowers and allows the reader or the audience to be the source of meaning of a literary work.

Reader response theory acknowledges the reader as an active agent who passes on actual existence to a literary work and finishes its meaning through interpretation. Reader response school of thought sets the reader free from the uninteresting undertaking of attempting to discover what the author had in mind (Lorimer & Scannell, 189).

Consequently, the audience or the reader is understood as being at liberty to construct his or her own sense and to open up instead of close down the meaning of a piece of literary work (Lorimer & Scannell 189).Proponents of this school of thought hold that the source of meaning in any text can only be the reader because the content derives an important effect in the act of consumption.

In her attempts to demonstrate effects of style and language on the meaning of a piece of literary work, Barbara Johnson uses examples of poems from particular socio-cultural set ups. This choice of poems may compel the reader or the audiences from different socio-cultural settings require more information about the poems used by Barbara in her essay.

Failure to access necessary information to fill in any existing gap on the side of the audience who certainly possess diverse intellectual abilities may obscure communication. It may also deny him the interpretive power he or she has already been granted by those who espouse literary criticism theory. Ontological difficulty in her essay can arise from differences between the kinds of culture through which she presents her essay which may be strange to the reader as well as from the information the reader gathers regarding the literary works analysed by her.

The kind of language which also derives from her culture can also pose ontological difficulties to readers who are not accustomed to it. Above anything else this can easily make effective communication between her and the reader more difficult. In other words, her essay just like the poems being analysed has a potential of determining the kind of readers who can be at home with the essay out of an amorphous public readership.

“Disney: A Degenerate Utopia” By Louis Marin’s

Structuralism is a famous approach to the study of text in literary studies. Structuralism is an overall word for particular way of examining anything from a film, a TV play, a fairy story and even language itself (Lorimer & Scannell, 193).The target of structuralism is to find out the fundamental model both of single texts and different kinds of literary works.

Through structuralism literary scholars and communication researchers’ attempts to see beneath the superficial meaning of the text and get to the concealed core skeletal organization that holds the body of the story together (Lorimer & Scannell 193).Structuralism enables communication researchers to undo evident complexities of content in a text such as a story into a simple set of essential story features that can be joined into rigorously restricted number of ways (Lorimer & Scannell 193).

Ontological difficulty in Louis Marin’s structuralist essay is manifest in a number of ways. There are possibilities of a big rift between the author and the target audience. First and foremost, his language is extremely philosophical. This aspect of his language poses the danger of obstructing the audience from deriving the intended meaning especially for those who are not accustomed to professional philosophical language as well as philosophizing about life issues of a society.

It can also lead to a complete breakdown of communication in a situation whereby the audience comes from a socio-cultural background different from that of the author. Apart from language, ontological difficulty may arise where the reader is not conversant with the American society in terms of its history, psychology, values, morality, intellectualism as well as levels of development because it is certainly the gist of his essay.

Any existing gap on knowledge concerning those aspects of the American society would force any reader who is committed to understanding the message that he is trying to put across seek more information on the same so that he or she can be at home with and in the essay (Shetley 1932).Failure to access such knowledge can lead the reader into deriving distorted meaning from the essay and further complicate communication between the readers and the author.

In addition to being conversant with American society’s history, values, morality and psychology, a reader of the essay should be relatively familiar with American physical geography and technological progress in order for him or her to make a good sense of the essay. Furthermore, a reader needs to be able to understand symbolic language so that he or she can comprehend how the author uses symbolic language to philosophically analyze the American society.

In a nutshell, Louis Marin’s essay presents in an extremely philosophical language a way of life which may be different from a reader’s culture thereby bringing forth ontological difficulty in communication. Therefore, even though the audience may be at liberty to interpret the essay without necessarily establishing what Louis Marin had in his mind when he wrote this essay the possible cultural separation may be his or her undoing in an attempt to make sense of the essay (Shetley 1932).

Conclusion

Communication is a process that requires that an author, a poet or a sender of a piece of information share a common platform though which information can be exchanged. Absence of the necessary requisites together with other linguistic and socio-cultural factors leads to difficulties in communication particularly on the side of the reader or the target audience. In literary theory these difficulties are categorized as tactical, contingent, modal or ontological difficulties.

Works Cited

Lorimer, Rowland and Scannell, Paddy. Mass communications: a comparative introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003. Print.

Shetley, Vermon. After the death of poetry: poet and audience in contemporary American Author. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003. Print.

Introduction

The selected nursing concept for the analysis from different ontological views is quality of life (QoL). In nursing, QoL is an essential concept that nurses apply in the provision of healthcare services to patients, families, and communities. According to the World Health Organization (2019), QoL is a broad concept that measures the way individuals perceive their health status based on their value systems, cultural factors, beliefs, psychological conditions, physical health, environmental state, and social relationships. In this view, QoL is a composite nursing concept because it encompasses various factors that dictate the health status of individuals.

Since QoL is dependent on perceptions of patients, it is also essential that nurses understand it to provide relevant healthcare services (Bahrami, Parker, & Blackman, 2008). The analysis of the nursing concept of QoL from different ontological perspectives highlights its philosophical basis in general health and nursing. Therefore, in the analysis of QoL, this paper examines history, development, impact on nursing practice, and epistemology from the three ontological views of post-positivism, complexity, and human science.

Post-Positivism

History

From the perspective of post-positivism, QoL was developed in the 1960s and 1970s when numerous advancements in the diagnosis of diseases emerged. Clinicians used QoL as an instrument that assesses the health status of patients and allows them to make informed decisions regarding care and treatment interventions. The primary driver of post-positivism was findings from clinical experiments, which pointed out the importance of health assessments in patients. In the 1960s, clinicians were concerned with the protection and improvement of health conditions of their patients based on medical assessments. Innovative treatments and therapies proved useful because they extended the duration of life among patients.

However, high costs of treatments and adverse effects of therapeutic procedures used in lengthening lives of patients necessitated the assessment of QoL. Subsequently, researchers focused on standardizing health factors and scoring them to measure QoL (MacKillop & Sheard, 2018). Thus, the development of instruments used in the assessment of QoL commenced in the 1970s and aided healthcare providers in making medical decisions.

In the 1980s, researchers concentrated their efforts on the development of capable research instruments, which generate valid and reliable outcomes of QoL. Nevertheless, the developed instruments generated inconsistent results of QoL, making healthcare providers experience challenges and difficulties in medical decisions. In the assessment of QoL in populations, the scale of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) was developed in 1980s and became dominant in the healthcare system (MacKillop & Sheard, 2018).

Despite the presence of methodological problems, nurses, physicians, clinicians, patients, and family members agreed on significant factors that dictate the measurement of QoL. In the 1990s, generic instruments were developed, while in the 2000s, disease-specific tools were established. Currently, diverse instruments of QoL permit healthcare providers to consider the varied viewpoints of patients in medical decisions.

Informed Nursing Practice

Over time, QoL has advanced in health care and has now become a central concept because it informs nursing practice. Given that the development of scales to measure QoL has demonstrated that health status of individuals is subject to numerous factors in social, psychological, spiritual, cultural, and biological arenas, nursing practice considers them as imperatives. In ensuring that their healthcare interventions are effective, nurses are obligated to evaluate outcomes (Jones, 2016).

In nursing practice, QoL is an outcome that is measurable to enable nurses to undertake their obligations of assessing the efficacy of different interventions. The social contract that nurses have with the patients requires them to assure QoL as a performance indicator. In this view, nurses ought to practice the science of nursing by reviewing the efficacy of interventions and assessing health results.

Since QoL is a complex concept, it comprises numerous factors that determine its status in nursing practice. The assessment of QoL obliges nurses to consider individual factors, such as social, spiritual, cultural, physical, and psychological health (Jones, 2016).

In the development of scales, the inclusion of comfort, security, relationships, functional competence, privacy, enjoyment, dignity, autonomy, meaningful activities, and spiritual-wellbeing offered an accurate assessment of QoL by nurses. Moreover, consideration of the environment in which patients receive healthcare is necessary for it influences QoL. QoL varies according to the nursing environment and perceptions of patients and nurses (MacKillop & Sheard, 2018). Nurses have to adjust the measurement of nursing outcomes to match conditions of residential homes, nursing homes, or hospitals. Additionally, the integration of the perceptions of nurses and patients is integral for accurate measurement of QoL among patients.

Studies in Nursing

QoL is a significant concept in nursing because it has formed the basis of various studies. For instance, QoL has been studied in palliative settings among patients with chronic conditions. In their study, Sawatzky et al. (2018) designed a new instrument, Quality of Life and Practice Support System (QPSS), and used it in the assessment of patients under palliative care at home and hospital settings. The instrument aimed to capture different perceptions of QoL in the palliative care environment. The study used QPSS in collecting data from patients, clinicians, and family caregivers, and then integrated them to come up with an overall outcome of QoL (Sawatzky et al., 2018). The results of the study revealed that the integration of diverse viewpoints facilitates nurses to make an accurate assessment of QoL and provide customized care to patients.

QoL has also been applied in a randomized controlled study to evaluate the influence of nurse practitioner-led care on QoL of patients with atrial fibrillation. Smigorowsky, Norris, McMurtry, and Tsuyuki (2017) argue the provision of practitioner-led care improves access to care and augment the quality of care, leading to enhanced QoL among patients with atrial fibrillation. Comparison of the standard care and the nurse practitioner-led care allowed the analysis of QoL as an outcome of interest in the study.

Based on their QoL survey, Smigorowsky et al. (2017) established that patients who underwent nurse practitioner-led care experienced a higher level of satisfaction than those who received standard care. Thus, the study suggests the use of nurse practitioner-led care in the improvement of QoL in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Human Science

History

The evolution of human science has seen healthcare providers amass knowledge concerning what constitutes QoL among patients. From the ontological perspective of human science, QoL has evolved in line with the growth and expansion of knowledge. The concept of QoL stems from the definition of health by the World Health Organization in 1947. According to the definition, health constitutes “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity” (para. 1) (World Health Organization, 2019). The incorporation of the term ‘well-being’ signifies the health conditions of individuals concerning QoL. The broadened definition of health incorporated the aspect of human science in the delivery of nursing care. In essence, holistic approaches to health are critical to the improvement of QoL.

Advancements in treatment interventions in the 1960s and 1970s increased the demand for nursing care. Consequently, healthcare providers recommended the use of multidisciplinary approached as interventions of improving QoL among patients, particularly those with chronic conditions. Disease-specific interventions were designed to ensure that they have optimum effectiveness and generate superb QoL.

Medical professionals, sociologists, psychologists, and environmentalists formulated theories that elucidate the occurrence of diseases, as well as interventions required to enhance QoL. In the modern world, multidisciplinary has become the cornerstone of healthcare delivery because it allows nurses, physicians, laboratory technicians, caregivers, and patients to collaborate in their efforts to assure QoL.

Informed Nursing Practice

From the perspective of human science, QoL has informed and advanced nursing practice significantly. Nurses collaborate with other healthcare professionals in the delivery of care and ensuring that optimal health outcomes are achieved. Von Kodolitsch et al. (2016) hold that geneticists, surgeons, cardiologists, radiologists, pathologists, neurologists, pediatricians, gynecologists, and nurses collaborate in hospital settings to bring about a robust multidisciplinary team in the provision of care. The attainment of QoL is the goal of a multidisciplinary team, which utilizes extensive knowledge and diverse skills of nursing practice. In nursing, the multidisciplinary team does not only benefit patients by improving their QoL, but it also ensures optimal achievement of nursing interventions and promotes efficient utilization of limited resources.

Since human science perceives healthcare from a holistic point of view, it informs the use of the interdisciplinary approach in nursing practice. The interdisciplinary approach allows the use of diverse strategies, skills, and interventions in the provision of care to patients and improving their QoL. According to Von Kodolitsch et al. (2016), the multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of diseases does not only empowers nurses but also boosts QoL in patients with chronic disorders.

Debilitating effects of chronic conditions weaken patients and deprive them of their abilities to lead meaningful lives. Zadeh, Eshelman, Setla, and Sadatsafavi (2017) advise nurses to collaborate with clinical management, support staff, administration, physicians, and other healthcare professionals in the provision of holistic medical care. Through the interdisciplinary strategy, healthcare providers pool their skills, experience, and knowledge and utilize them in the provision of comprehensive care to patients. The interdisciplinary approach has informed nursing practice since nurses apply it as a strategy of improving therapeutic efficacy and QoL.

Studies in Nursing

Based on the ontology of human science, nurses have undertaken numerous studies to examine QoL. For instance, a study was performed to identify the role of the multidisciplinary approach in the improvement of QoL among patients with Marfan syndrome. Since Marfan is a chronic disorder that affects connective tissues and threatens the lives of patients, the multidisciplinary approach is necessary to alleviate the progression of diseases and enhance QoL (Von Kodolitsch et al., 2016). The optimization of therapeutic interventions is dependent on the extent to which healthcare providers work as a collaborative team.

In elucidating the mechanism of the multidisciplinary approach, Von Kodolitsch et al. (2016) categorized healthcare providers into coordinators, core members, and auxiliary support. Furthermore, a multidisciplinary team cooperates with the quality management sector, quality assurance, clinical risk management, and patients for continuous monitoring of diseases. Therefore, the study recommends nurses to engage a multidisciplinary team as a strategy of enhancing therapeutic outcomes and promoting QoL among patients with Marfan syndrome.

Nurses have also studied the role of interdisciplinary in promoting QoL among diverse patients. For example, as patients with terminal illnesses need end-of-life care, QoL determines their survivorship. In their study, Zadeh et al. (2017) scrutinized the role of interdisciplinary perspectives as robust strategies of improving QoL among patients receiving end-of-life care in both hospital and home environments. Variations in individual perception of QoL influence strategies employed in the provision of end-of-life care.

Zadeh et al. (2017) identified policies, caregiver practices, symptom management, healthcare provider experience, family members, and patients as some of the essential strategies of improving QoL among patients in end-of-life care. The diversity of strategies signifies that QoL is a complex healthcare concept, which requires the interdisciplinary approach by all healthcare providers. In this perspective, the study suggests the adoption of the interdisciplinary approach in the provision of nursing care to heighten QoL in patients undergoing end-of-life care.

Complexity Thinking

History

The emergence of nursing theories in the early- and mid-parts of the 20 century led to the elucidation of QoL from the perspective of complexity thinking. In the 1930s, the formulation of the systems theory indicated that human relationships are not only organized but also structured in their environment to exhibit causal relationships (Arnold & Boggs, 2019). The systems theory postulates that individuals do not exist in isolation but live in an environment with complex interactions.

In the mid of the 20^th century, Hildegard Peplau formulated a theory, which holds that the relationship between patients and nurses plays a significant role in the attainment of QoL (Hagerty, Samuels, Norcini-Pala, & Gigliotti, 2017). Joyce Travelbee came up with the interpersonal theory in 1966 to highlight how effective interaction between nurses and patients enhances QoL (Shelton, 2016). Thus, the interaction of factors surrounding patients has a marked influence on their QoL.

In the 1970s, behavioral system analysis provided the basis of explaining the interrelationships between people in society and their environment. The application of behavioral system analysis shifted from the management field to healthcare arena. The analysis of forces that affects patients shows that their behaviors of change in response to their environmental conditions, which act as external forces that the system of QoL. The nature of physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and natural environment determine the way individuals attains QoL (Anderson, 2016). The increasing case of medical errors in the 1980s and 1990s necessitated the application of systems theory in healthcare.

The complexity of healthcare systems and human needs contributed significantly to the occurrence of medical errors. Anderson (2016) requires the consideration of interactions between individual attributes and organizational conditions as factors that determine the occurrence of medical errors and QoL. Currently, healthcare systems and hospitals utilize systems theory in improving healthcare outcomes and promoting QoL among patients.

Informed Nursing practice

QoL has evolved as new knowledge emerged in the field of nursing. As humans do not live in isolation, the ontology of complexity thinking holds that causal relationships elucidate QoL. In essence, humans live in systems that are subject to numerous forces that stabilize and destabilize their health conditions. Systems theory has informed nursing practice because it provides a framework that integrates different disciplines of healthcare and support collaboration in the delivery of medical care (Arnold & Boggs, 2019).

In line with the ontology of complexity thinking, the interpersonal theoretical model of Hildegard Peplau elucidates that effective relationships between nurses and patients should go through the critical phases of orientation, delivery of care, and termination (Hagerty et al., 2017). The phase of orientation allows patients to adapt treatment environment, while the phase of delivery of care provides for the treatment. The termination phase occurs when patients have attained significant QoL from debilitating conditions sickness.

The assessment of systems theory shows that it has improved the provision of nursing care, promoted collaboration, and reduced the occurrence of medical errors. The delivery of care is a collaborative effort of physicians, nurses, caregivers, and family members (Anderson, 2016). To provide quality care and achieve the highest possible QoL, nurses ought to factor in the needs and experiences of patients, available resources, and medical advice from physicians and specialists. Based on the concept of causal relationship, Jacqueline Fawcett modelled the metaparadigm of nursing as interactions between the domains of health, environment, medical care, and patients (Bender, 2018). Hence, the metaparadigm informs the nursing curriculum and build nursing capacity to deliver quality care, leading to enhanced QoL in patients.

Studies in Nursing

QoL based the ontology of complexity thinking has been studied in nursing through the analysis of the model of causal relationships. For example, in their study, Hariyono and Soewandi (2016) applied Hildegard Peplau’s theory to ascertain the effect of the nurse-patient relationship on QoL and family uncertainly. In the provision of nursing care, nurses can develop positive relationships with patients and alleviate their pain, fear, anxiety, distress, and depression.

Hariyono and Soewandi (2016) found out that interpersonal relationships that nurses develop through acceptance, communication, and alliance are statistically significant predictors of QoL as indicated by the uncertainty of surgery. Typically, unresolved uncertainty decreases QoL of family members and their patients because it increases stress, anxiety, and depression.

Since systems theory models critical elements in relationships that determine QoL, studies have employed it in nursing studies. Ahmadi and Sadeghi (2017) utilized the model of Betty Neuman systems, which a form of systems theory, in the analysis of nursing care given to patients with multiple sclerosis. As an autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis causes neurological disability and reduces QoL among patients.

From the perspective of systems models, psychological, physiological, physical, social, and spiritual elements interact in a patient as a system with internal and external forces. Using the Neuman model, Ahmadi and Sadeghi established that stressors of patients with multiple sclerosis exist on extra-personal, inter-personal, and intra-personal levels. In this view, the study advises nurses to employ the model in the provision of medical services to patients with multiple sclerosis.

Conclusion

QoL is a critical concept in nursing since it indicates the overall wellbeing of patients in various settings. The analysis of QoL from the ontological views of post-positivism, complexity, and human science revealed important epistemological tenets of nursing. The analysis of QoL from the viewpoint of post-positivism concentrated on the development of instruments and scales, which assess the health conditions of patients. From the perspective of human science, the analysis demonstrated that the multidisciplinary approach to nursing care is integral in the improvement of QoL. Complexity thinking indicated that causal relationships and interactions between personal factors, healthcare professionals, and environment determine the level of QoL among patients. Ultimately, the analyses reveal that QoL is a complex nursing concept that is subject to different ontological approaches.

References

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Bernard Tschumi offers an alternative viewpoint on the relationships within architecture and its consideration in the framework of modern trends and changes. The author makes the main emphasis on disjunction that is evident in all aspects conventionally discussed in the context of architectural studies. He stresses the change of paradigm and the presence of violence that governs the dynamic, at times incompatible relationships within architectural objects determined by the human intrusion in them and reconsideration of function and form, space, and events taking place within them (Tschumi, 1996). The thesis of the author is that architecture is impossible within action and events, consequently, there are always elements of violence present in the creation and further utilization of architectural objects (Tschumi, 1996, pp. 121-122).

Tschumi examines the notion of violence as a reciprocal concept in architecture – he assumes that both space and human bodies violate each other. The former violates the latter by becoming a part of his/her consciousness and cognition, affecting human behavior, mood, and perception (Tschumi, 1996, p. 124). The latter in their turn violate the former by ruining the balance when intruding into the architectural space, i.e. the empty building (Tschumi, 1996, p. 123). The author further notes that architects have always been trying to purify the uncontrolled violence of the architectural events and the way to this purification is seen in the ritualization of these relationships, which appears empirically impossible because of the inability of anyone in the world to design the mechanism of everyone’s movement and interaction and to define the programs of events (Tschumi, 1996, pp. 125-127).

Tschumi (1996) introduces an innovative phenomenon in architecture: a program. He states that programs and space can enter diverse relationships (either independent, with many buildings fostering many events, types of people and venues, or interdependent, with the architect making the complete design of the building with the target public, events and models of events). Thus, he concludes that each new event is altered by each new space. However, these relations are not unilateral, as the events also possess an ability to redefine the architectural space in which they take place (as a ballet in a church, sleeping in the kitchen, etc.) (Tschumi, 1996). One more stress in the discussion of violence and disjunction made by the author suggests a positive shift in perception of architecture in a dynamic perspective because of its presupposition of change and renewal (Tschumi, 1996, p. 132).

Spaces and events have been traditionally viewed as static elements of architecture, while the very concept of architecture was perceived as an autonomous, static, and structured art. However, the author shows the dynamism and interdependence of such marginal elements in architecture as:

• dis-structuring (questioning the role of structure in architecture);
• order (challenging and pushing the concept to the edge of perception);
• strategies of disjunction (the influence of which is clear in the dissociative logic of the architectural work);
• limits (reminders of architecture is not only the object of admiration but the object of remaking and dismantling);
• notation (so insignificant in traditional approaches to architecture and so important in the modern perception);
• connection of disjunction and the avant-garde (assuming that no element and no moment in architecture can be self-sufficient and absolute, representing the unity of former elements, traces of events, and programs) (Tschumi, 1996, pp. 208-212).

Making a conclusion on the ontology and events in architecture as discussed by Tschumi (1996), it is possible to note that the author admits the exceptional importance thereof in the modern, dynamic and disjunctive approach to architecture. He admits many times, on examples of various buildings that events define and redefine the architectural work every time they change. Events create the dynamic, violent relationships of people with spaces that are not initially determined by the architect, thus ensuring the change and renewal of any architectural work and the disjunction of expected form and expected usage (Tschumi, 1996). These events and interrelationships within the system have brought about the innovative standpoint in architecture and provided the creation of modern trends in the field.

References

Tschumi, B. (1996). Architecture and disjunction. The MIT Press.