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Philosophy
Ontology
The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of being, existence, and reality itself.
Ontology asks: What exists? What is the fundamental nature of reality? What kinds of things are there?
**Key ontological positions:** - **Materialism**: Only physical matter exists. - **Dualism**: Both physical and non-physical (mental/spiritual) substances exist. - **Idealism**: Only mind or consciousness is ultimately real. - **Theism**: God is the foundational being from whom all else derives.
Ontological commitments shape everything else in a worldview. A materialist ontology, for instance, must explain consciousness, morality, and logic as emergent properties of matter — a challenge that Debby's debates make explicit.