1st CfP POWERs II @ JOWO / FOIS 2026 - September 21-25, 2025, in Vitória, Brazil
Fabrício
[Apologies for cross-posting]
POWERs II: Perspectival Ontology Workshop on Entities that can be Realized (second edition)
Part of the 12th Joint Ontology Workshops (JOWO 2026),
Co-located with the 16th International Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS 2026)
September 21-25, 2026
Vitória, Brazil
Important Dates:
Submission deadline: 03 June 2026
Notification of acceptance: 15 July 2026
Camera-ready deadline: 31 July 2026
Workshop dates: between 21-22 September 2026 (exact date to be defined)
Website: https://powers-workshop.github.io/
Contact: powers....@gmail.com
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About the workshop:
A long-standing philosophical and ontological tradition assumes that potency precedes actuality. According to this view, events are realizations or manifestations of potentialities inherent in the event’s participants. The world is replete with “realizable entities” that embody such potentialities – with dispositions standing out as a paradigmatic example. Dispositions are intimately connected to the causal powers of objects and encompass a broad range of entities, including abilities, capabilities, tendencies, propensities, liabilities, and capacities.
Realizable entities bridge the static and dynamic structures of the world – linking endurants/continuants to perdurants/occurrents – and thus have garnered significant attention within the Formal Ontology community. Current research explores their application across diverse domains, including the analysis of diseases, biological functions, risks, engineered artifacts, affordances, organizational capabilities, and social roles.
The purpose of POWERs is to turn the spotlight on this issue, providing a venue for researchers and practitioners to present their work on dispositions and other realizable entities, exploring their various perspectives. Information and computer scientists, philosophers, cognitive scientists, linguists, conceptual modelers, domain experts, and professionals from related disciplines are very welcome to participate.
Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
Formalization and Characterization
Formal models and logics for realizable entities (e.g., single- vs. multi-track dispositions, degrees of realization, disposition-based reasoning)
Connections between realizable entities and other ontological categories (e.g., qualities, events)
Types and Categories
Distinction between dispositional and non-dispositional realizable entities
Status of core entities (e.g., roles, biological/artifactual functions) as realizable entities or not
Applications
Domain-specific uses in biology, health sciences, industry, enterprise modeling, and beyond.
Philosophical Foundations
The metaphysical vs. linguistic nature of the distinction between realizable and non-realizable (“categorical”) properties
Intrinsicness and extrinsicness of realizable entities
The relevance of the disposition/power distinction for formal ontology
Dispositions in accounts of causation
The role of blocks, finks, and antidotes in applied ontology
Dispositions as substitutes for laws of nature in ontology
Submissions:
We welcome three types of submissions.
Abstract for presentation only: 2-3 pages (not included as a paper in the proceedings);
Short papers: 6-9 pages;
Full research papers: max. 10-14 pages.
Submissions must be sent via EasyChair as a single PDF file and should be formatted in CEUR one-column format.
Template: https://ceurws.wordpress.com/2020/03/31/ceurws-publishes-ceurart-paper-style/
Submission link: https://easychair.org/my2/conference?conf=fois2026
(Select the track “WS: POWERs”)
We look forward to your submissions and to lively discussions in Vitória!
Organization:
Fabrício Henrique Rodrigues – University at Buffalo, USA
Adrien Barton – CNRS, Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse (IRIT), France