Ontology
<p><b>Ontology</b> is the <a title="Philosophy" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy">philosophical</a> study of the nature of <i><a title="Being" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being">being</a>, <a title="Becoming (philosophy)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becoming(philosophy)">becoming</a>, <a title="Existence" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existence">existence</a></i>, or <i><a title="Reality" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality">reality</a></i>, as well as the basic <a title="Category of being" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_of_being">categories of being</a> and their relations. Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of philosophy known as <a title="Metaphysics" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics">metaphysics</a>, ontology deals with questions concerning what <a title="Entities" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entities">entities</a> exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be grouped, related within a <a title="Hierarchy" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy">hierarchy</a>, and subdivided according to similarities and differences. In the broadest sense, ontologists investigate what makes a human human, relying on institutional, social, and technical conventions representing a nexus of intellectual activities.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Harvey.2C_F.2006_pp.341-343_1-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology#cite_note-Harvey.2C_F.2006_pp._341-343-1"> </a></sup></p>