[['''Descriptive Ontology for Linguistic and Cognitive Engineering]]''' (DOLCE) is an [[upper ontology]], and the first module of the WonderWeb foundational ontologies library,<ref>http://www.loa-cnr.it/old/Papers/D18.pdf</ref> developed by [[Nicola Guarino]] and his associates at the Laboratory for Applied Ontology (LOA). As implied by its acronym, DOLCE has a clear ''cognitive bias'', in that it aims at capturing the ontological categories underlying [[natural language]] and human [[common sense]]. DOLCE, however, does not commit to a strictly [[referentialist]] metaphysics related to the intrinsic nature of the world. Rather, the categories it introduces are thought of as cognitive artifacts, which are ultimately depending on human perception, cultural imprints and social conventions. In this sense, they intend to be just ''descriptive'' (vs ''prescriptive'') notions, that assist in making already formed conceptualizations explicit.
DOLCE is an ontology of particulars, in the sense that its [[___domain of discourse]] is restricted to them. Of course, universals are used to organize and characterize the particulars, but they are not themselves subject to being organized and characterized (e.g., by means of metaproperties).
