In
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, events are objects in
time or
instantiations of
properties in objects. On some views, only changes in the form of acquiring or losing a property can constitute events, like the lawn's becoming dry.
According to others, there are also events that involve nothing but the retaining of a property, e.g. the lawn's staying wet.
Events are usually defined as
particulars that, unlike
universals, cannot repeat at different times.
Processes are complex events constituted by a sequence of events. But even simple events can be conceived as complex entities involving an object, a time and the property exemplified by the object at this time. Traditionally, metaphysicians tended to emphasize static being over dynamic events. This tendency has been opposed by so-called
process philosophy or
process ontology
In philosophy, a process ontology refers to a universal model of the structure of the world as an ordered wholeness. Such ontologies are fundamental ontologies, in contrast to the so-called applied ontologies. Fundamental ontologies do not claim ...
, which ascribes ontological primacy to events and processes.
Kim’s property-exemplification
Jaegwon Kim theorized that events are structured.
They are composed of three things:
# Object(s)