Ontologies and Similarity

Introduction

Ontologies [9] comprise a definition of concepts describing their commonalities (genus proximum) as well as their differences (differentia specifica). One might think that with the definition of commonalities and differences, the definition of similarities in and for ontologies should follow immediately. Traditionally, however, the contrary is true, because the method background of ontologies, i.e. logics-based representations, and similarity, i.e. geometry-based representations, have been explored in disjoint communities that have mixed only to a limited extent. In this short paper we survey how our own work touches on the intersection between ontologies and similarity. While this cannot be a comprehensive account of the interrelationship between ontologies and similarity, we aim it to be a stepping stone for inspiration and for indicating entry points for future investigations.