ProEthica Ontology ObjectProperties Reference¶

Generated: 2026-04-30 Source: OntServe/ontologies/proethica-intermediate.ttl, proethica-core v2.5.0

This document lists all ObjectProperties defined in the ProEthica ontology. These should be used for extracted relations instead of ad-hoc property names.

Normative Relations (Nine-Component Framework)¶

These connect the core extracted concept types:

Property	Domain	Range	Description
`:guidedByPrinciple`	Action	Principle	Action guided by ethical principle
`:fulfillsObligation`	Action	Obligation	Action fulfills professional obligation
`:violatesObligation`	Action	Obligation	Action violates professional obligation
`:constrainedBy`	Action	Constraint	Action limited by constraint
`:hasAgentRole`	Action	Role	Role of agent performing action
`:hasObligation`	Role	Obligation	Role carries professional obligation
`:adheresToPrinciple`	Role	Principle	Role governed by ethical principle
`:hasRole`	IndependentContinuant	Role	Entity bears a role
`:hasState`	Process	State	Process affected by state
`:hasResource`	Process	Resource	Process uses resource
`:performsAction`	MaterialEntity	Action	Agent performs action
`:hasCapability`	MaterialEntity	Capability	Entity has capability

Role-to-Role Instance Relations¶

Model professional relationships between role instances in cases:

Property	Domain	Range	Inverse	Description
`:retainedBy`	Role	Role	`:retains`	Professional retained by client
`:retains`	Role	Role	`:retainedBy`	Client retains professional
`:employedBy`	Role	Role	`:employs`	Professional employed by organization
`:employs`	Role	Role	`:employedBy`	Organization employs professional
`:supervises`	Role	Role	`:supervisedBy`	Role supervises another
`:supervisedBy`	Role	Role	`:supervises`	Role supervised by another
`:mentors`	Role	Role	`:mentoredBy`	Role mentors another
`:mentoredBy`	Role	Role	`:mentors`	Role mentored by another
`:reportsTo`	Role	Role	`:receivesReportFrom`	Role reports to another
`:receivesReportFrom`	Role	Role	`:reportsTo`	Role receives reports from another
`:collaboratesWith`	Role	Role	(symmetric)	Roles collaborate as peers

Provision Relations¶

Connect guidelines to ethical concepts:

Property	Domain	Range	Description
`:establishes`	Resource	Principle/Obligation/Constraint	Provision establishes ethical concept
`:establishedBy`	Principle/Obligation/Constraint	Resource	Inverse of establishes
`:governedByCode`	Role	EthicalCode	Role governed by code of ethics

Case Analysis Relations (Step 4)¶

Property	Domain	Range	Description
`:hasQuestion`	Case	EthicalQuestion	Case poses ethical question
`:hasConclusion`	Case	BoardConclusion	Case has board conclusion
`:hasDecisionPoint`	Case	DecisionPoint	Case contains decision point
`:answersQuestion`	BoardConclusion	EthicalQuestion	Conclusion answers question

Decision Point Relations¶

Property	Domain	Range	Description
`:hasOption`	DecisionPoint	DecisionOption	Decision point has option
`:involvesRole`	DecisionPoint	Role	Decision point involves role
`:appliesProvision`	DecisionPoint	EthicalCode	Decision point applies provision

Argument Relations¶

Property	Domain	Range	Description
`:hasArgument`	DecisionOption	EthicalArgument	Option has argument
`:argumentFor`	EthicalArgument	DecisionOption	PRO argument for option
`:argumentAgainst`	EthicalArgument	DecisionOption	CON argument against option
`:citesProvision`	EthicalArgument	EthicalCode	Argument cites code provision

Defeasibility Relations (proethica-core v2.5.0)¶

These properties expose obligation competition as first-class graph structure. They are SPARQL-queryable and reasoner-visible, replacing earlier narrative datatype encodings of competing-duties resolution.

Property	Domain	Range	Characteristic	Description
`proeth-core:competesWith`	Obligation	Obligation	Symmetric	Two obligations stand in mutual competition
`proeth-core:prevailsOver`	Obligation	Obligation	Directed	Winning obligation prevails over losing obligation
`proeth-core:defeasibleUnder`	Obligation	State	Directed	Obligation is defeated under the named state

The three properties model obligation defeat as a triple: when an obligation O1 competesWith O2, and a state S obtains, then O1 prevailsOver O2 defeasibleUnder S. Cases that report tension resolution between competing duties carry these edges so non-monotonic reasoners can compute defeat without parsing narrative text.

Deprecated¶

Property	Replacement	Reason
`:hasCondition`	`:hasState`	Terminology alignment

JSON Key to ObjectProperty Mapping¶

For migrating embedded JSON relations to proper triples:

CausalNormativeLink Relations¶

JSON Key	ObjectProperty
`fulfills_obligations`	`:fulfillsObligation`
`violates_obligations`	`:violatesObligation`
`guided_by_principles`	`:guidedByPrinciple`
`constrained_by`	`:constrainedBy`
`agent_role`	`:hasAgentRole`

Role Instance Relations¶

JSON type value	ObjectProperty
`retained_by`	`:retainedBy`
`retains`	`:retains`
`employed_by`	`:employedBy`
`employs`	`:employs`
`supervises`	`:supervises`
`supervised_by`	`:supervisedBy`
`mentors`	`:mentors`
`mentored_by`	`:mentoredBy`
`reports_to`	`:reportsTo`
`collaborates_with`	`:collaboratesWith`

Usage in Extraction Prompts¶

When updating extraction prompts, require the LLM to use ONLY these property names for relationships:

## Allowed Relationship Properties

For Action relationships:
- guidedByPrinciple: action guided by ethical principle
- fulfillsObligation: action fulfills professional obligation
- violatesObligation: action violates professional obligation
- constrainedBy: action limited by constraint
- hasAgentRole: role performing the action

For Role relationships:
- hasObligation: role carries professional obligation
- adheresToPrinciple: role governed by ethical principle
- retainedBy: professional retained by client
- employedBy: professional employed by organization
- supervises: role supervises another role
- supervisedBy: role supervised by another
- mentors: role mentors another
- mentoredBy: role mentored by another
- reportsTo: role reports to another
- collaboratesWith: roles work together as peers

Last Updated: 2026-04-30