# An ontological analysis of risk in Basic Formal Ontology

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.21171 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.21171/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 2 of its 30 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Jul 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Grounding Realizable Entities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.00197/) (2024)
- [Two Approaches to the Identity of Processes in BFO](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.15689/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The paper explores the nature of risk, providing a characterization using the categories of the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO). It argues that the category Risk is a subclass of BFO:Role, contrasting it with a similar view classifying Risk as a subclass of BFO:Disposition. This modeling choice is applied on one example of risk, which represents objects, processes (both physical and mental) and their interrelations, then generalizing from the instances in the example to obtain an overall analysis of risk, making explicit what are the sufficient conditions for being a risk. Plausible necessary conditions are also mentioned for future work. Index Terms: ontology, risk, BFO, role, disposition