Thirty Years Later: Some Reflections on Ontological Analysis in Conceptual Modeling

The idea that ontological theories could be used to provide a theoretical basis for evaluating conceptual-modeling grammars and scripts was initiated some thirty years ago. The authors provide some brief history about the early research that discussed how ontological theories might be used to study conceptual-modeling grammars and scripts. They then give an overview of the progress that has been made using various elements of this early research. Next, they outline some of the major critiques that have been made of conceptual-modeling work that uses ontological foundations. Finally, the authors suggest some areas that they believe hold substantial promise in using ontology to better understand and predict conceptual-modeling phenomena.