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The effort to categorize nature dates at least to Aristotle and is still ongoing. The study of categories is termed "ontology"-a field Whose use in the philosophy' of social science has most recently been revived. Last April 1998, the State University of New York at Buffalo hosted a conference on "Applied Ontology: A Marvin Farber Conference in Law and Institutions in Society." The following papers were selected from the group of papers presented at the conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many world views and complicated laws within a society have evolved from simpler forms. In general, this process works well. However, on occasion the original basis, no matter how well it worked at inception, does not work well in later, more complex, or different societies. One such case is that of the current law of intellectual property, which does not seem to adapt well to the introduction of new technologies. This paper explores this problem and its causes, and then proposes some possible changes that might, with minimal disruption, minimize many of these difficulties in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of American Anthropologist is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)