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This ontology is designed to represent agents, especially persons and organizations, and their roles.
Agent Ontology
Version 2.1
accessory in
x is_accessory_in y iff x is an instance of Agent and y is an instance of Process such that x assists another instance of Agent z in the commission of y, and x was not located at the location of y when y occurred, and x is not an agent_in y.
has accessory
x has accessory y =Def y accessory in x
accomplice in
Agent x is accomplice_in Process y iff x assists in the commission of y, is located at the location of y, but is not agent_in y.
has accomplice
x has accomplice y =Def y accomplice in x
agent in
x agent_in y iff y is an instance of Process and x is an instance of Agent, such that x is causally active in y.
has subsidiary
x has subsidiary y =Def y is subsidiary of x
is supervised by
x is_supervised_by y iff x and y are both instances of Person and y supervises x.
prohibits
x prohibits y at t iff: x is an instance of Process Regulation at time t, and y is an instance of Process at time t, and x prescribes that some y must not occur.
Given a stronger temporal interpretation, this property may be asymmetric and irreflexive. For more info please refer to https://github.com/BFO-ontology/BFO-2020/tree/master/src/owl/temporal%20extensions.
is required by
x is required by y =Def y requires x
uses
x uses y iff x is an instance of an Agent and y is an instance of a Material Entity, such that both x and y participate in some instance of a Process wherein x attempts to accomplish a goal by manipulating, deploying, or leveraging some attribute of y.
is subsidiary of
x is_subsidiary_of y iff x and y are both instances of Organization and y controls x by having the capacity to determine the outcome of decisions about the financial and operating policies of x.
is prohibited by
x is prohibited by y =Def y prohibits x
is subordinate role to
For all x,y,t: y is subordinate role to x at t iff: x is an instance of Role at time t, and y is an instance of Role at time t, and there is some z such that x is realized by z and z is an instance of Process which creates, modifies, transfers, or eliminates some u such that u is a Process Regulation at time t, and u is addressed to the bearer of y.
has agent
x has agent y =Def y agent in x
has sender
x has sender y =Def y sends x
is organizational context of
x is_organizational_context_of y iff x is an instance of an Organization and y is an instance of a Role and z is an instance of a Person, such that z's affiliation with x is a prerequisite for z bearing y, or x ascribes y to the bearer of y.
is delimited by
x is_delimited_by y iff x is an instance of Organization and y is an instance of Delimiting Domain and y delimits x.
delimits
x delimits y =Def y is delimited by x
is interest of
x is interest of y =Def y has interest in x
capability of aggregate
x capability_of_aggregate y iff y is an instance of Object Aggregate and x is an instance of Agent Capability, such that x inheres in aggregate y.
capability of
x capability_of y iff y is an instance of Agent and x is an instance of Agent Capability, such that x inheres in y.
aggregate has capability
x aggregate has capability y =Def y capability of aggregate x
permits
x permits y at t iff: x is an instance of Process Regulation at time t, and y is an instance of Process at time t, and x prescribes that y may occur.
has recipient
x has recipient y =Def y receives x
is used by
x is used by y =Def y uses x
is affiliated with
x is_affiliated_with y iff x and y are instances of Agent, such that they have any kind of social or business relationship.
supervises
x supervises y =Def y is supervised by x
has subordinate role
x has subordinate role y =Def y is subordinate role to x
has capability
x has capability y =Def y capability of x
requires
x requires y at t iff: x is an instance of Process Regulation at time t, and y is an instance of Process at time t, and x prescribes that some y must occur.
has affiliate
x has affiliate y =Def y is affiliated with x
receives
x receives y iff x is an instance of Agent and y is an instance of Act Of Communication, such that x is the recipient and decoder of the InformationContentEntity intended for communication in y.
has interest in
A relation between an Agent and some Process where the Agent has an interest in that Process.
This term is meant to be weakly normative. The only sense in which the process is of positive normative value is that it's prescribed by the Agent, or historically of evolutionary benefit to the Agent's ancestors, or facilitates a process the Agent has an interest in for the prior two reasons. The process an Agent has an interest could in many or all ways be harmful to the Agent.
There are four conditions in which an agent has an interest in some process. 1) Biological Condition: If a part (including improper part) of an organism has a function, then that organism has an interest in the realization of that function. 2) Artifactual Condition: If a part (including improper part) of an artifact has a function, then some agent or group of agents, at some time, has an interest in the realization of that function. 3) Prescription Condition: If an agent or group of agents has a plan, then it has an interest in the realization of all the processes and process-combinations prescribed by that plan. 4) Facilitation Condition: If (a) agent x has an interest in the realization of a disposition y, and (b) the realization of a disposition z facilitates the realization of disposition y, then (c) x has an interest in the realization of disposition z, and by 'facilitates' we mean that the occurrence of a process w, which realizes realization of z is either (1) required for y, to realize or (2) would contribute positively to the grade of, y's realization.
has organizational context
x has organizational context y =Def y is organizational context of x
sends
x sends y iff x is an instance of Agent and y is an instance of Act Of Communication, such that x is the initiator and encoder of the InformationContentEntity intended for communication in y.
is permitted by
x is permitted by y =Def y permits x
Incorporated Organization
Corporation
An Organization formed by an Act of Incorporation that consists of an association of individuals, created by law or under authority of law, having a continuous existence independent of the existences of its members and owners, and having powers and liabilities distinct from those of its members and owners.
Hair Color
A Quality inhering in a portion of Hair by virtue of its color.
Eye Color
A Quality inhering in an Eye by virtue of the color of the Eye's Iris.
Province
A First-Order Administrative Region that is part of a Country and delimits the authority of a magistrate who holds constitutionally-defined administrative jurisdiction over the defined geographic territory that bounds the Province.
Scalp Hair
A Bodily Component that consists of a portion of hair that grows on the scalp of a human or other animal.
Town
A Local Administrative Region in which a human population permanently resides that is typically larger than the population of a Village but smaller than that of a City; is designated as a town based on a particular administrative, legal, or historical status; and which delimits a local Government that typically exercises less power than that of a City Government.
Bodily Component
A Fiat Object Part located within or on the surface of an Agent.
Bodily Components include anatomical structures, body flora, pathogens, toxins, and their combinations.
Skill
An Agent Capability that inheres in a Person to the extent of that Person's capacity to realize it in Intentional Acts of a certain type.
Skin Type is classified according to a reference system such as the Fitzpatrick scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzpatrick_scale
Skin Type
A Quality inhering in a portion of skin by virtue of its color and natural tendency to respond to ultraviolet light.
First-Order Administrative Region
A Government Domain that is a primary administrative division of a Country.
Tattoo
A Bodily Component that consists of a typically permanent mark or design on a portion of skin that is created by a process of pricking and ingraining an indelible pigment or by raising scars.
Third-Order Administrative Region
A Government Domain that is a subdivision of a Second-Order Administrative Region.
Convention on Rights and Duties of States (inter-American); December 26, 1933. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/intam03.asp. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.
Domain of a Country
A Government Domain that is associated with certain distinct political, ethnic, or cultural characteristics, and which delimits a Government that has legitimate authority over a Populace.
'Country' is an unclear term. Does it refer to the people, the government, the site, or the material in the site? Furthermore, what is properly referred to as a 'Country' is highly dependent on the classification practices of the international community. For example: The United Kingdom is a sovereign country that has Wales, a non-sovereign Country, as a member. Vatican City is a sovereign country that is landlocked by a city: Rome, Italy. Puerto Rico is not a country (it's a territory) but has a government, a distinct culture, and so on. Thus, here we do not define 'Country' but instead define 'Domain of a Country'.
Populace
A Group of Persons forming the total population of some Government Domain.
Facial Hair
A Bodily Component that consists of a portion of hair that grows on the face of a human (typically male) or other animal.
Civilian Role
A Role that inheres in an Agent or Group of Agents by virtue of that Agent or Group of Agents not being part of either an Armed Force or police force.
Organization Member Role
A Role that inheres in an Agent in virtue of the responsibilities that Agent is expected to fulfill as a member of some Organization.
Lee, David S., and Brad Glosserman. “How Companies Can Navigate Today’s Geopolitical Risks.” Harvard Business Review, 28 Nov. 2022. hbr.org, https://hbr.org/2022/11/how-companies-can-navigate-todays-geopolitical-risks.
University, Utah State. Geopolitical Power | Aggies GO. https://chass.usu.edu/international-studies/aggies-go/power. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.
Geopolitical Organization
An Organization that bears a Geopolitical Power Role.
Affordance
A Realizable Entity of an Independent Continuant that creates an opportunity for an Agent to realize some Agent Capability or Disposition in some Act.
J. J. Gibson, "The Theory of Affordances," in The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception (NY: Taylor & Francis Group, 1986): 127-143. Available at: https://archive.org/details/pdfy-u5hmFOvOM2Civ4Gz/page/n70/mode/1up.
Language Skill
A Skill that is realized by an Act which is prescribed by a Language.
Authority Role
A Role that is realized by Processes which create, modify, transfer, or eliminate Process Regulations or other Authority Roles, and inheres in an Agent in virtue of collective acceptance of that Agent's ability to issue binding directives.
Authority Roles are externally grounded in a social group's collective acceptance of the binding force of the agent's directives. This acceptance can be direct or indirect (e.g., by accepting a procedure for deputizing authority). Such collective acceptance need not be explicit or cognized; rather, collective acceptance can be expressed in the dispositions and attitudes of people toward that agent's directives. In many cases, the directives issued by Authority Roles are backed by threats of punishment or sanction for failure to comply, but the issuing of a directive plus a threat is not sufficient for authority. Rather, an agent's authority must be accepted either directly or indirectly through the acceptance of a procedure for bestowing authority (e.g., elections).
Armed Force
An Organization having the Objective to further the foreign and domestic policies of a Government and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors.
Enemy Role
An Allegiance Role that inheres in an Agent by virtue of that Agent having committed offensive Acts or exhibited intent to perform such Acts towards a particular Agent or Group of Agents or has been declared as hostile by some appropriate authority.
Group of Agents
An Object Aggregate that has only Agents as member parts.
Disease
A Disposition to undergo pathological processes that exists in an organism because of one or more disorders in that organism.
Disability
A Quality inhering in an Agent by virtue a physical or mental condition that limits the Agent's movements, senses, or activities.
Nuclear Family
A Family composed of parents and their children.
Citizen
A Person who is the bearer of some Citizen Role.
Allegiance Role
A Role that inheres in an Agent by virtue of the support it has committed to provide to another Agent when that Agent is involved in a conflict.
Iris
A Bodily Component that consists of the part of an Eye that is a pigmented, round, contractile membrane, suspended between the cornea and lens and perforated by the pupil, and which canonically regulates the amount of light entering the Eye.
Second-Order Administrative Region
A Government Domain that is a subdivision of a First-Order Administrative Region.
Government Organization
An Organization that is part of a Government and is responsible for the oversight or administration of specific governmental functions.
Military Personnel Force
An Armed Force authorized to use deadly force, and weapons, to support the interests of the Government and some or all of its Citizens.
Commercial Organization
An Organization that is the bearer of a Commercial Role and whose primary objective is to make a profit from the provision of goods or services.
Local Administrative Region
Locality
A Government Domain that delimits a local Government.
Fourth-Order Administrative Region
A Government Domain that is a subdivision of a Third-Order Administrative Region.
Objective
A Prescriptive Information Content Entity that prescribes some projected state that some Agent intends to achieve.
Commercial Role
A Role that inheres in an Organization by virtue of its establishment as a for-profit business.
Neutral Role
An Allegiance Role that inheres in an Agent by virtue of that Agent not performing or being committed to performing Acts that have as their Objective to either support or undermine the Objectives of an Agent or Group of Agents involved in some conflict.
Eye
A Bodily Component that consists of an organ that canonically affords the Agent it is part of with the ability to receive visual stimuli necessary for sight.
Contractor Role
A Role that inheres in an Agent or Group of Agents by virtue of that Agent or Group of Agents entering into a Contract to provide materials or labor to perform a service or complete a task.
A Contractor Role differs from an Occupation Role in at least two ways. First, the Contract that binds the two parties together is not one of employment. Second, a Contractor Role is occupationally neutral in that an Agent can be contracted to perform any number of Occupational Roles.
Ethnic Group
A Group of Persons who identify with one another based on one or more shared inherited characteristics such as language, ancestry, nationality, culture, customs, religion, or social experiences.
Service Provider
An Organization whose purpose is to provide a service to other Agents.
Government of a Country
A Government that has legitimate authority within and is delimited by a Domain of a Country.
Organism
An Object that is an Animal or Plant.
Process Prohibition
A Process Regulation that prohibits some Process.
Animal
An Organism that is multicellular, eukaryotic, heterotrophic, and capable of motility for part of its life.
Educational Organization
An Organization whose primary purpose is to provide training or otherwise facilitate learning or the acquisition of knowledge, Skills, values, beliefs, or habits.
This is a general term that applies to both military and civilian activities, such as the Geospatial Region within which a company conducts its business.
Operational Area
A Geospatial Location in which an Agent conducts some activity.
Organization Capability
An Agent Capability that inheres in an Organization to the extent of that Organization's capacity to realize it in Intentional Acts of a certain type.
Scalp
A Bodily Component that consists of the skin covering the top of the head of a human or other animal.
Ally Role
An Allegiance Role that inheres in an Agent in virtue of that Agent's commitment to perform Acts that support the Objectives of a particular Agent or Group of Agents.
Interpersonal Relationship Role
A Role that inheres in a Person in virtue of the obligations, expectations, or social norms that govern that Person's Intentional Acts within the context of a relationship with another Person.
Financial Value
A quality that inheres in an independent continuant to the degree that that independent continuant can serve as a medium of exchange in an economic system at a particular time.
Religion
An Information Content Entity that consists of a collection of claims about the meaning or origin of existence or about the existence or nature of one or more deities, an afterlife, or spiritual or sacred entities, and which is accepted as true by an Agent or Group of Agents.
Material Territory of a Country
The portions of lithosphere, hydrosphere, or atmosphere that together exactly occupy a The Domain of a Country.
Permanent Resident
A person with a Permanent Resident Role.
Organization Member
A Person who is affiliated with some Organization by being a member of that Organization.
Material Territory of a Government Domain
The portions of lithosphere, hydrosphere, or atmosphere that together exactly occupy a Government Domain
Neutral Person
A Person who is the bearer of some Neutral Role.
Government Domain Border
A Geospatial Boundary that is a boundary of some Government Domain.
Ideology
An Information Content Entity that consists of a collection of claims about how some part of the world is or should be and which is accepted as true by an Agent or Group of Agents such that it forms the basis of their beliefs, goals, expectations, and motivations.
Enemy Person
A Person who is the bearer of some Enemy Role.
Village
A Local Administrative Region in which a human population permanently resides that is typically larger than the population of a hamlet but smaller than that of a Town.
Action Permission
Authorization
License
A Process Regulation that permits some Process.
Ethnicity
A Quality that inheres in its bearers by virtue of a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture (often including a shared religion) and an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy.
Family
A Group of Persons related to one another by ancestry or marriage.
Allied Person
A Person who is the bearer of some Ally Role.
Plant
An Organism that is multicellular, eukaryotic, autotrophic, and has cells that contain chloroplasts and walls made of cellulose.
City
A Local Administrative Region in which a relatively large human population permanently resides; is designated as a city based on a particular administrative, legal, or historical status; and which delimits a local Government that typically oversees the provision of systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation.
Geopolitical Power Role
A Role had by an Organization, that is perceived by an International Community as capable of performing influential acts in that community, and which would be realized in performing such acts.
Group of Persons
A Group of Agents that has only Persons as member parts.
Permanent Residency - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_residency. Accessed 10 Feb. 2023.
Permanent Resident Role
A role inhering in a Person by virtue of that Person being recognized as having legal resident status in a Government Domain in which that person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis.
Constituent State
State
A First-Order Administrative Region that is part of a Country and delimits a centralized regional Government that holds constitutionally-defined administrative jurisdiction over the defined geographic territory that bounds the State.
Plan
A Prescriptive Information Content Entity that prescribes some set of intended Intentional Acts through which some Agent expects to achieve some Objective.
Political Orientation
An Ideology that characterizes the political thinking of an Agent or Group of Agents, usually with respect to the political environment within a particular nation.
Occupation Role
A Role that inheres in an Agent in virtue of the responsibilities that Agent is expected to fulfill within the context of some Act of Employment.
Scar
A Bodily Component that consists of a portion of fibrous connective tissue on skin or within body tissue and which was formed due to an injury that has not healed completely.
Citizen Role
A Role that inheres in a Person by virtue of that Person being legally recognized as a member of a particular state, with associated rights and obligations.
Operator Role
A Role that inheres in an Agent by virtue of that Agent's responsibilities to operate or control some Material Artifact.
Agent
A Material Entity that bears an Agent Capability.
Schlosser, Markus, "Agency", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2019/entries/agency/
Biological Sex
A Quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearer's ability to undergo sexual reproduction in order to differentiate the individuals or types involved.
The International Community. 5 Apr. 2023, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/international-community.
International Community
A maximal Group of Geopolitical Organizations engaged in geopolitics with one another.
Financial Value of Property
Property Value
Financial Value that inheres in an material entity that is the object of an Act of Ownership.
Instances of this class are not proper Delimiting Domains, but in some cases may have an organization that exercises some control over the region, such as the homeowners' association for a neighborhood.
Division of Delimiting Domain
A Geospatial Region that is a fiat division of a Delimiting Domain and not a Delimiting Domain.
Flatbush, French Quarter, Western New York, Texas Panhandle, Greater Montreal Area of Quebec, Pacific Northwest, southwest area of Al Anbar Province, Northern Iraq.
Set of Eyes
A Bodily Component that consists of two or more Eyes that are part of a single Agent.
Government Domain
A Delimiting Domain that delimits the authority of a Government to exercise its control within the bounded area.
County
A Government Domain that is part of either a First-Order or Second-Order Administrative Region.
Members of organizations are either Organizations themselves or individual Persons. Members can bear specific Organization Member Roles that are determined in the organization rules. The organization rules also determine how decisions are made on behalf of the Organization by the organization members.
Organization
A Group of Agents which can be the bearer of roles, has members, and has a set of organization rules.
Social Network
A Group of Agents that are connected in dyadic relations by similar personal or career interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections.
Delimiting Domain
A Geospatial Region that delimits the authority of an Organization to exercise its control within the bounded area.
Female Sex
A Biological Sex inhering in an individual that only produces gametes that can be fertilized by male gametes.
Process Requirement
Duty
Obligation
A Process Regulation that requires some Process.
Group of Organizations
A Group of Agents that has only Organizations as member parts.
Person
Human
An Animal that is a member of the species Homo sapiens.
Carrier Air Wing
A Military Force that is trained and equipped to conduct air operations while embarked on an aircraft carrier.
Crew
A Group of Persons that bear Roles realized by the operation of the specified Vehicle.
Civil Organization
An Organization that is not commercial or military and is the bearer of a Civilian Role.
Paramilitary Force
An Armed Force whose organizational structure, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional Military, and which is not included as part of a Government's formal Armed Forces.
Process Regulation
A Prescriptive Information Content Entity that prescribes an Process as required, prohibited, or permitted, and is the output of an Process which realizes some Authority Role.
Although regulations often regulate processes which involve agents--as the regulating or regulated participant--it is unclear how causally active an agents need to be in those regulated processes. For example, it is not clear how causally active a human agent is in the process of a traffic light regulating the motion of a self-driving vehicle.
Government
An Organization that is the highest legitimate authority delimited by some Delimiting Domain and that exercises executive, legislative, or judicial authority in that Domain.
Highest legitimate authority should not be confused with highest legitimate authority of a particular kind. For example, while the judicial branch of the United States government has the highest judicial authority in a Delimiting Domain, it is not the highest legitimate authority delimited by that domain. The combination of executive, judicial, and legislative branches is higher because it wields more legitimate authority than any branch on its own.
Importantly, the definition states "highest legitimate authority delimited by some Delimiting Domain" and not "highest legitimate authority in some Delimiting Domain." The government of Wales is the highest legitimate authority delimited by some Delimiting Domain but it is not the highest legitimate authority in that domain, which would be the government of the United Kingdom.
Male Sex
A Biological Sex inhering in an individual whose sex organs contain only male gametes.
Agent Capability
A Realizable Entity that inheres in a Material Entity in virtue of that Material Entity's capacity to realize it in some Planned Act.