Ontological Meaning
/ˌɑntəˈlɑdʒɪkəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf or relating to ontology.
adjOf or pertaining to the nature of being or existence.
Sentence Examples
Ontological questions puzzled the philosopher.
The ontological argument is complex and abstract.
The philosopher presented a new ontological argument.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The philosopher's ____ argument about the nature of existence challenged the students' beliefs.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The philosopher raised an ____ argument for the existence of God based on the concept of perfection.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English ontology Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ic Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al Middle English -ical English -ical English ontological From ontology + -ical.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"A curious thing about the ontological problem is its simplicity. It can be put in three Anglo-Saxon monosyllables: ‘What is there?’ It can be answered, moreover, in a word—‘Everything’—and everyone will accept this answer as true."
— 1948, W.v.O. Quine, On What There Is:
"Applying a critical discourse analysis to MM, this thesis argues that far-right media portrays any challenge to the status quo, be it demographic, political, cultural, or social, as threatening to ontological security by utilizing a Positive Self and Negative Other dichotomy."
— 2020 May 3, Julien Morein, “Murdoch Murdoch: A Case Study in Threats to Ontological Security in Far-Right Propaganda”, in Arcadia University, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2021, page 2:
"Such is the human ontological imagination, and such is the convincingness of what it brings to birth. Unpicturable beings are realized, and realized with an intensity almost like that of an hallucination."
— 1902, William James, “Lecture 3”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The philosopher's ____ argument about the nature of existence challenged the students' beliefs.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The philosopher raised an ____ argument for the existence of God based on the concept of perfection.