Realizable Entities in Basic Formal Ontology

Numerous research groups are now utilizing Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) as an upper-level framework to assist in the organization and integration of biomedical and other types of information. In this paper, we attempt to elucidate the categories of role, disposition, function, and capability in BFO by means of definitions and examples. We also discuss tendency as one variety of disposition, and introduce the defined classes artifactual function and biological function, providing definitions for each. Our motivation is to help advance the coherent ontological treatment of these categories and to shed light on BFO’s general structure and use.