c ▁in ▁artificial ▁intelligence ). ▁App lied ▁ont ology ▁is ▁considered ▁a ▁spiritual ▁successor ▁to ▁prior ▁work ▁in ▁philosophy , ▁however ▁many ▁current ▁efforts ▁are ▁more ▁concerned ▁with ▁establish ing ▁controlled ▁voc ab ular ies ▁of ▁narrow ▁domains ▁than ▁first ▁principles , ▁the ▁existence ▁of ▁fixed ▁ess ences ▁or ▁whether ▁end uring ▁objects ▁( e . g ., ▁perd ur ant ism ▁and ▁end ur ant ism ) ▁may ▁be ▁ont olog ically ▁more ▁primary ▁than ▁processes . ▁ ▁Every ▁field ▁uses ▁ont ological ▁assumptions ▁to ▁frame ▁explicit ▁theories , ▁research ▁and ▁applications . ▁For ▁instance , ▁the ▁definition ▁and ▁ont ology ▁of ▁econom ics ▁is ▁a ▁prim acy ▁concern ▁in ▁Marx ist ▁econom ics , ▁but ▁also ▁in ▁other ▁sub fields ▁of ▁econom ics . ▁An ▁example ▁of ▁econom ics ▁re lying ▁on ▁information ▁science ▁occurs ▁in ▁cases ▁where ▁a ▁simulation ▁or ▁model ▁is ▁intended ▁to ▁enable ▁economic ▁dec isions , ▁such ▁as ▁determ ining ▁what ▁capital ▁assets ▁are ▁at ▁risk ▁and ▁by ▁how ▁much ▁( see ▁risk ▁management ). ▁ ▁Art ific ial ▁intelligence ▁has ▁retained ▁the ▁most ▁attention ▁regarding ▁applied ▁ont ology ▁in ▁sub fields ▁like ▁natural ▁language ▁processing ▁within ▁machine ▁translation ▁and ▁knowledge ▁representation , ▁but ▁ont ology ▁edit ors ▁are ▁being ▁used ▁often ▁in ▁a ▁range ▁of ▁fields ▁like ▁education ▁without ▁the ▁intent ▁to ▁contribute ▁to ▁A I . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁Ont ologies ▁arise ▁out ▁of ▁the ▁branch ▁of ▁philosophy ▁known ▁as ▁met aph ys ics , ▁which ▁de als ▁with ▁questions ▁like ▁" what ▁exists ?"