---
_id: '61150'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Since the emergence of the field of eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI),
    a growing number of researchers have argued that XAI should consider insights
    from the social sciences in order to adapt explanations to the expectations and
    needs of human users. This has led to the emergence of a field called Social XAI,
    which is concerned with understanding how explanations are actively shaped in
    the interaction between a human user and an AI system. Recognizing this turn in
    XAI toward making XAI systems more “social” by providing explanations that focus
    on human information needs and incorporating insights from human–human explanatory
    interactions, in this paper we provide a formal foundation for Social XAI. We
    do so by proposing novel ontological accounts of the key terms used in Social
    XAI based on Basic Formal Ontology (BFO). Specifically, we provide novel ontological
    accounts for explanandum, explanans, understanding, explanation, explainer, explainee,
    and context. In doing so, we discuss multifaceted entities in Social XAI (having
    both continuant and occurrent facets; e.g., explanation) and the relationship
    between understanding and explanation. Additionally, we propose solutions to seemingly
    paradoxical views on some terms (e.g., social constructivist vs. individual constructivist
    perspective on explanandum).
author:
- first_name: Meisam
  full_name: Booshehri, Meisam
  id: '93424'
  last_name: Booshehri
- first_name: Hendrik
  full_name: Buschmeier, Hendrik
  id: '76456'
  last_name: Buschmeier
  orcid: 0000-0002-9613-5713
- first_name: Philipp
  full_name: Cimiano, Philipp
  last_name: Cimiano
citation:
  ama: 'Booshehri M, Buschmeier H, Cimiano P. A BFO-based ontological analysis of
    entities in Social XAI. In: <i>Proceedings of the 15th International Conference
    on Formal Ontology in Information Systems</i>. IOS Press; 2025:255–268. doi:<a
    href="https://doi.org/10.3233/faia250498">10.3233/faia250498</a>'
  apa: Booshehri, M., Buschmeier, H., &#38; Cimiano, P. (2025). A BFO-based ontological
    analysis of entities in Social XAI. In <i>Proceedings of the 15th International
    Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems</i> (pp. 255–268). IOS Press.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.3233/faia250498">https://doi.org/10.3233/faia250498</a>
  bibtex: '@inbook{Booshehri_Buschmeier_Cimiano_2025, title={A BFO-based ontological
    analysis of entities in Social XAI}, DOI={<a href="https://doi.org/10.3233/faia250498">10.3233/faia250498</a>},
    booktitle={Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Formal Ontology
    in Information Systems}, publisher={IOS Press}, author={Booshehri, Meisam and
    Buschmeier, Hendrik and Cimiano, Philipp}, year={2025}, pages={255–268} }'
  chicago: Booshehri, Meisam, Hendrik Buschmeier, and Philipp Cimiano. “A BFO-Based
    Ontological Analysis of Entities in Social XAI.” In <i>Proceedings of the 15th
    International Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems</i>, 255–268.
    IOS Press, 2025. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3233/faia250498">https://doi.org/10.3233/faia250498</a>.
  ieee: M. Booshehri, H. Buschmeier, and P. Cimiano, “A BFO-based ontological analysis
    of entities in Social XAI,” in <i>Proceedings of the 15th International Conference
    on Formal Ontology in Information Systems</i>, IOS Press, 2025, pp. 255–268.
  mla: Booshehri, Meisam, et al. “A BFO-Based Ontological Analysis of Entities in
    Social XAI.” <i>Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Formal Ontology
    in Information Systems</i>, IOS Press, 2025, pp. 255–268, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.3233/faia250498">10.3233/faia250498</a>.
  short: 'M. Booshehri, H. Buschmeier, P. Cimiano, in: Proceedings of the 15th International
    Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems, IOS Press, 2025, pp. 255–268.'
conference:
  end_date: 2025-09-12
  location: Catania, Italy
  name: 15th International Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems
  start_date: 2025-09-08
date_created: 2025-09-08T14:00:45Z
date_updated: 2025-09-11T10:16:28Z
department:
- _id: '660'
doi: 10.3233/faia250498
extern: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.3233/FAIA250498
oa: '1'
page: 255–268
project:
- _id: '118'
  name: 'TRR 318: Project Area INF'
- _id: '112'
  name: 'TRR 318; TP A02: Verstehensprozess einer Erklärung beobachten und auswerten'
publication: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Formal Ontology in
  Information Systems
publication_identifier:
  isbn:
  - '9781643686172'
  issn:
  - 0922-6389
  - 1879-8314
publication_status: published
publisher: IOS Press
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: A BFO-based ontological analysis of entities in Social XAI
type: book_chapter
user_id: '76456'
year: '2025'
...