Mapping the Multitude. Categories in Representations Ruth Hagengruber Philosophisches Seminar, Universität Koblenz, Universitätsstraße 1 56068 Koblenz, Germany www.uni-koblenz.de/~hagengru ruth.hagengruber@uni-koblenz.de Abstract. One of the main problems with artificial intelligence is the fact that the information which artificial intelligence is typically required to handle is heterogeneously structured. Ontologies are designed to mitigate this effect. From a philosophical perspective, we refer to an ontology when we have a systematic representation of principles whose various relations can adequately describe a subset of the world. The interrelation of these principles constitutes a real world scenario. Humans use special strategies to reduce the amount of data at their disposal. They apply selection and reorganization techniques to adapt their knowledge to new scenarios. Categories are relations that occur due to necessary orders. Thus, each domain has its necessary set of relations and a necessary ordering of entities which define the domain-specific relational structure. This kind of representation has far-reaching consequences in practical applications. 1 Introduction One of the main problems with artificial intelligence is the fact that the information which artificial intelligence is typically required to handle is heterogeneously structured. Data systems developed independently of one another lead to incompatible data structuring, and thus to semantic breaks. This reflects the different approaches and focuses, the different interpretations and backgrounds of various groups of users. Ontologies are designed to mitigate this effect. The theory is that ontologies can help to provide a common knowledge base. Ontologies are designed to provide a structure or grid that allows us to categorize information no matter where it comes from and to retrieve that information, just like from an ingenious system of drawers. The general applicability of the grid would guarantee general availability and help to achieve the goal of supporting access from anywhere, and with any degree of precision, giving both scientists access to that knowledge. Ontologies are designed to provide a basis for enabling and supporting multiple perspectives.1 They aim to provide access to the information source, thus giving a person who applies the ontological grid to that source the kind of information that person expects. 1 The term is taken from [1].