▁published ▁in ▁S IG ART ▁Bul letin ▁and ▁included ▁as ▁a ▁pre face ▁to ▁the ▁proceed ings . ▁ ▁Some ▁research ers , ▁drawing ▁insp iration ▁from ▁philosoph ical ▁ont ologies , ▁viewed ▁computational ▁ont ology ▁as ▁a ▁kind ▁of ▁applied ▁philosophy . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 9 9 3 , ▁the ▁widely ▁c ited ▁web ▁page ▁and ▁paper ▁" T ow ard ▁Princi ples ▁for ▁the ▁Design ▁of ▁Ont ologies ▁U sed ▁for ▁Know ledge ▁Sh aring " ▁by ▁Tom ▁Gr uber ▁used ▁ont ology ▁as ▁a ▁technical ▁term ▁in ▁computer ▁science ▁closely ▁related ▁to ▁earlier ▁idea ▁of ▁semantic ▁networks ▁and ▁tax onom ies . ▁Gr uber ▁introduced ▁the ▁term ▁as ▁a ▁specification ▁of ▁a ▁concept ual ization : ▁An ▁ont ology ▁is ▁a ▁description ▁( like ▁a ▁formal ▁specification ▁of ▁a ▁program ) ▁of ▁the ▁concepts ▁and ▁relationships ▁that ▁can ▁formally ▁exist ▁for ▁an ▁agent ▁or ▁a ▁community ▁of ▁agents . ▁This ▁definition ▁is ▁consistent ▁with ▁the ▁usage ▁of ▁ont ology ▁as ▁set ▁of ▁concept ▁definitions , ▁but ▁more ▁general . ▁And ▁it ▁is ▁a ▁different ▁sense ▁of ▁the ▁word ▁than ▁its ▁use ▁in ▁philosophy . ▁ ▁Att empt ing ▁to ▁distance ▁ont ologies ▁from ▁tax onom ies ▁and ▁similar ▁efforts ▁in ▁knowledge ▁model ing ▁that ▁rely ▁on ▁classes ▁and ▁inheritance , ▁Gr uber ▁stated ▁( 1 9 9 3 ): ▁Ont ologies ▁are ▁often ▁equ ated ▁with ▁tax onom ic ▁hier arch ies ▁of ▁classes , ▁class ▁definitions , ▁and ▁the ▁sub sum ption ▁relation , ▁but ▁ont ologies ▁need