The Philosophy of Geo-ontologies

This book is intended as a philosophical introduction to geo-ontologies, in response to their increasing diffusion within the contemporary debate, where philosophy plays a fundamental, though still unexplored, role. Accordingly, the first part offers a short overview of the ontological background of geo-ontologies, which comprehends computer science, philosophy and geography. The second part is devoted to describe the ontology of geography, to define notions such as geographical entities and boundaries, and to trace some philosophical tools useful for spatial representation. The third part investigates the emerging of geo-ontologies from the spatial turn and is concerned with a taxonomy for geo-ontologies grounded on some fundamental geographical distinctions. Finally, the last part presents the emergence of Digital Humanities and the consequent proliferation of geographical projects focused on the ancient world, in particular Greek and Roman.

Timothy Tambassi is an ICUB postdoctoral fellow at the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB), Romania, an honorary research fellow in Archival, Bibliographical and Library Sciences at the University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy and in History of Philosophy at the University of Parma, Italy. Moreover, he was a visiting scholar in Philosophy of Geography at the Columbia University in the City of New York, USA and at the University of Milan, Italy, a research fellow in Computer Science at the University of Eastern Piedmont, a teaching assistant in History of Political Philosophy at the University of Parma and an honorary visiting research Associate at Durham University, UK. He obtained his Ph.D. in Philosophy and Human Science at the University of Verona, Italy with a dissertation entitled “The Riddle of Reality: E.J. Lowe’s Metaphysics, Ontology, and Philosophy of Mind”. Currently, his main research interests include Metaphysics, Formal Ontology, Philosophy of Geography, Geo-ontologies and the Philosophy of E.J. Lowe. He is the editor-in-chief of the philosophical journal Quaderni della ginestra and a member of the editorial board of La societa degli individui, Asia-Pacific Studies, Canadian Social Science, Philosophy Study, Filozofski pogledi/Philosophical Views and a member of the international editorial board of Calamo.