Institute of Integrative and Interdisciplinary Research

Ontology, Systems Theory, and Meta-Science

This program examines the categorical foundations of scientific models, general principles of systems organization, and meta-scientific mechanisms of knowledge production. It investigates processual ontologies versus static representations, coherent identity over time in complex dynamical systems, adaptive strategies of selective exclusion and non-engagement, embodied cognition as a basis for self-modeling, reconciliation of incompatible formalisms, emergence versus aggregation in networks, and stability/transformation across temporal scales and institutional contexts.

The research questions below outline the current frontier problems pursued within this framework. The accompanying reference collection integrates key literature with ongoing contributions developed at the Institute.

Research Questions: Ontology, Systems Theory, and Meta-Science

  1. How can formal ontologies accommodate entities that are fundamentally processual rather than static?
  2. What are the structural conditions under which complex systems maintain coherent identity over time?
  3. How do boundary conditions constrain the verification and validity of scientific claims across different domains?
  4. When does selective exclusion or non-engagement serve as an adaptive strategy for system stability?
  5. What is the relationship between embodied cognition and the emergence of self-models in dynamical systems?
  6. How can multiple incompatible formal representations of the same phenomenon be reconciled within a unified methodological framework?
  7. What distinguishes emergence in complex networks from mere aggregation of component behaviors?
  8. How do social and institutional systems achieve stability despite continuous internal and external perturbation?
  9. What role does temporal scale play in determining whether a system appears stable or undergoing transformation?
  10. How can meta-scientific inquiry improve the alignment between formal models and the phenomena they represent?

Publications

  • Beni, M. D. (2021). Inflating the social aspects of cognitive structural realism. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 11(3), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-021-00391-2
  • Borgo, S., Galton, A., & Kutz, O. (2022). Foundational ontologies in action: Understanding foundational ontology through examples. Applied Ontology, 17(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3233/AO-220265
  • Calhau, R. F., Guizzardi, G., Almeida, J. P. A., & Sales, T. P. (2025). Towards an ontology of type-level phenomena for system modeling. In J. Grabis, T. E. J. Vos, M. J. Escalona, & O. Pastor (Eds.), Research challenges in information science (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, Vol. 547, pp. 107–123). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-92474-3_8
  • De Domenico, M., Artime, O., & Solé, R. (2022). From the origin of life to pandemics: Emergent phenomena in complex systems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 380(2227), Article 20200410. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0410
  • Dombrowski, M. (2022). Processual emergentism. Erkenntnis, 89, 1903–1920. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-022-00539-5
  • Gallagher, S. (2023). Embodied and enactive approaches to cognition. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009209793
  • Green, D. G. (2023). Emergence in complex networks of simple agents. Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, 18, 419–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11403-023-00385-w
  • Hipólito, I., & van Es, T. (2022). Enactive-dynamic social cognition and active inference. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 855074. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.855074
  • Jaffe, P. I., Poldrack, R. A., Schafer, R. J., & Bissett, P. G. (2023). Modelling human behaviour in cognitive tasks with latent dynamical systems. Nature Human Behaviour, 7(6), 986–1000. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01510-8
  • Kaplan, A., & Garner, J. K. (2017). A complex dynamic systems perspective on identity and its development: The dynamic systems model of role identity. Developmental Psychology, 53(11), 2036–2051. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000339
  • Kassel, G. (2023). A plea for epistemic ontologies. Applied Ontology, 18(4), 367–397. https://doi.org/10.3233/AO-230057
  • Kriger, B. (2025). Formalization laws: Structure, boundaries, and the necessity of plural representations. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18099527
  • Kriger, B. (2026). Non-participation and early exclusion as stability-preserving institutional strategies. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18135188
  • Kriger, B. (2026). Processual identity law: Identity drift as a generic property of dynamical inferential systems. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18261636
  • Layer, P. G. (2023). Formalizing complexity in the life sciences: Systems, emergence, and metafluxes. Theoretical and Experimental Plant Physiology, 35, 313–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-023-00293-1
  • Lee, J. (2023). Enactivism meets mechanism: Tensions and congruities in cognitive science. Minds and Machines, 33, 115–139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-022-09618-6
  • Mobus, G. E. (2022). System ontology. In Systems science: Theory, analysis, modeling, and design (pp. 63–118). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93482-8_3
  • Munn, B. R., Müller, E. J., Wainstein, G., & Shine, J. M. (2022). It’s about time: Linking dynamical systems with human neuroimaging to understand the brain. Network Neuroscience, 6(4), 960–979. https://doi.org/10.1162/netn_a_00230
  • Otte, J. N., Beverley, J., & Ruttenberg, A. (2022). BFO: Basic Formal Ontology. Applied Ontology, 17(1), 17–43. https://doi.org/10.3233/AO-220262
  • Paxton, A. (2023). The dynamical hypothesis in situ: Challenges and opportunities for a dynamical social approach to interpersonal coordination. Topics in Cognitive Science, 15(4), 698–722. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12712
  • Rączaszek-Leonardi, J. (2023). What dynamic approaches have taught us about cognition and what they have not: On values in motion and the importance of replicable forms. Topics in Cognitive Science, 15(4), 660–681. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12709
  • Sanfilippo, E. M. (2021). Ontologies for information entities: State of the art and open challenges. Applied Ontology, 16(2), 111–135. https://doi.org/10.3233/AO-210246
  • Schwengber, J. G. (2024). A relational view on organization ontology: Insights from methodological relationism, process philosophy, and critical realism. In J. D. Rendtorff, L. Belser, & J. G. Schwengber (Eds.), Advances in relational economics (Relational Economics and Organization Governance, pp. 45–68). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-75725-9_3
  • van Dijk, M., Lowie, W., Smit, N., Verspoor, M., & van Geert, P. (2025). Complex dynamic systems theory as a foundation for process-oriented research on second language development. Second Language Research, 41(2), 321–345. https://doi.org/10.1177/02676583241246739
  • Wallace, D. (2022). Stating structural realism: Mathematics-first approaches to physics and metaphysics. Philosophical Perspectives, 36(1), 345–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/phpe.12172
  • Zwitter, A., & Dome, T. (Eds.). (2023). Meta-science: Towards a science of meaning and complex solutions. University of Groningen Press. https://doi.org/10.21827/648c59a2087f2