My ontology, in no particular order (yet; I’m just putting it all down and will sort it out later):
- “Universe” is a word that we use to describe the set of everything that exists.
- “Existence” is a quality of of parts of the universe.
- “Existing” means that a part of the universe can be examined and has limitations, either in space or time or both – a beginning and an end – or is converted from, or into, something else.
- “Space” is a property of the universe and describes volume in 4 dimensions. Physical objects in the universe take up space. All events take place in space.
- “Time” is a property of the universe and describes continuity, stability and linear, past-to-future existence.
- Everything in the universe exists and has limitations. (This statement might be a circular statement, or a tautology, but what the hell. I’m not a philospher by trade.)
- The universe, being made up of things that exist, exists only as long as its parts exist. However, it’s impossible to say whether the universe as a whole has limitations in space and time, since space and time are properties of the universe. Parts of the whole do have limitations in space and time.
Disclaimer: I freely admit that this may not be original. I’m just setting down what my basic assumptions are, not giving credit for who originally did so. My apologies if this seems derivative.
…more to come later.
Feel free to add your comments.