{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,18]],"date-time":"2026-03-18T06:10:31Z","timestamp":1773814231997,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"IOS Press","isbn-type":[{"value":"9781643686172","type":"electronic"}],"license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,28]],"date-time":"2025-08-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756339200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,28]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>We explore the concept of meaning in applied ontologies using possible world semantics. We begin by analyzing the nature of possible worlds in the influential framework proposed by Guarino, Oberle and Staab: interpreting an ontology involves selecting, from the set of logically possible worlds, a subset of worlds that are metaphysically possible according to the ontology \u2013 ideally corresponding to the set of worlds that are metaphysically possible according to the ontology\u2019s creator. We argue that this framework is limited to analytic statements and should be extended to encompass synthetic statements. The analytic\/synthetic distinction, we suggest, can itself be understood in terms of the necessary\/contingent distinction using metaphysically possible worlds. We propose a dual framework for introducing terms in ontology development, integrating both descriptivism and Kripke\u2019s theory of rigid designators. This framework accommodates a posteriori analytic statements, implying that the meaning of a term may be unknown even to its creator. Finally, we distinguish two distinct roles that labels can play in ontology development: either as rigid designators that carry semantic weight, or as mere human-readable tags serving as proxies for underlying descriptions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3233\/faia250483","type":"book-chapter","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,2]],"date-time":"2025-09-02T15:33:29Z","timestamp":1756827209000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Charting Possible Worlds: The Quest for Meaning in Ontologies"],"prefix":"10.3233","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5500-6539","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adrien","family":"Barton","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institut de recherche en informatique de Toulouse (IRIT), CNRS, Universit\u00e9 de Toulouse, France"},{"name":"GRIIS, Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, Canada (QC)"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3336-2476","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paul","family":"Fabry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GRIIS, Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, Canada (QC)"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9408-0109","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jean-Fran\u00e7ois","family":"Ethier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GRIIS, Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, Canada (QC)"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"7437","container-title":["Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications","Formal Ontology in Information Systems"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/ebooks.iospress.nl\/pdf\/doi\/10.3233\/FAIA250483","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,2]],"date-time":"2025-09-02T15:33:29Z","timestamp":1756827209000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/ebooks.iospress.nl\/doi\/10.3233\/FAIA250483"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,28]]},"ISBN":["9781643686172"],"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3233\/faia250483","relation":{},"ISSN":["0922-6389","1879-8314"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0922-6389","type":"print"},{"value":"1879-8314","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,28]]}}}