Following Sellars, this paper shows how ontological theorization becomes diachronically coordinated with and constrained by empirical science, and how the formal-quantitative kernel of scientific theories corresponds to qualitative-conceptual determinations at the structural level. To do this, we follow Johanna Seibt’s characterization of ontology as a theory of categorial inference, in which category construction and recategorization are seen relative to and modeled by the most general inferences and descriptive concepts of natural and scientific languages. This allows us to trace the preservation of inferential semantic structure across ontological theories in relation to model languages. We then provide some provisional indications to coordinate Seibt’s account with Jay Rosenberg’s “convergent realist” assessment of scientific theories in terms of Cauchy convergences and “counterpart modeling,” which defines epistemological conditions for articulating the preservation of formal structure in theories toward a limit or ideal point of enquiry.

继 Sellars 之后，本文展示了本体论理论如何与经验科学历时协调并受其约束，以及科学理论的形式-定量内核如何对应于结构层面的定性-概念确定。为此，我们遵循 Johanna Seibt 将本体论描述为分类推理理论的特征，其中类别构建和重新分类是相对于最一般的推理和自然和科学语言的描述性概念并由其建模的。这使我们能够追踪与模型语言相关的本体论理论中推理语义结构的保存。