From states to objects and events through stratification: A formal account and an application to data analytics

In this thesis, we are mainly interested in representing and stratifying objects, states, and events. From an epistemological or perceptual perspective, states may be seen as "time stamped data" or "basic observations". Perception and cognition organize sensory outputs by grouping them in units that allow us to interact with the world in a quick and fruitful way. Similarly, states can be organized by synchronically grouping them into complex configurations of the world, or diachronically grouping them into events. We are specially interested in the logical forms of existential dependencies between states, objects and events. In the view of some philosophers, the world is stratified in levels by means of existential dependencies. This view is also present in theories of granularity, where (i) an abstraction mechanism allows for the simplification of fine-grained (lower level) entities into coarser (higher level) entities, stratifying entities in levels of abstraction; or (ii) data resolution is considered a criterion for stratifying data in levels of granularity, reflecting a more epistemological perspective on levels. We present here a framework for representing and stratifying objects, states, and events in levels. We show that our theory supports different notions of level, and suggest applications to data analytics.