In the Western philosophy it refers to the philosophical doctrine that takes being and its essence as its object of inquiry. As a philosophical term, it first appeared in the 17th century, and was used by the German philosopher Goclenius who combined ónta (beings), the plural of on, with lógos (science, reason) to create Ontologie, i.e., the doctrine of being. Another German philosopher Clauberg combined “onta” with the Greek word sophía (“wisdom”, “knowledge”) to create Ontosophie, a synonym for Ontologie, i.e. “knowledge or science of being”. Descartes called the first philosophy that studies substance or noumena “metaphysical ontology”. . .
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