Conceptual modeling with processes

Western philosophy of science has been heavily influenced by the idea that substantials are the main carriers of knowledge. Objects and their attributes and their relations to other objects dominate the world of knowledge representation. Processes play a subordinated role as they are merely seen as the things that create, change, or destroy objects. A recent study has shown that this view is dominant in modeling and simulation as well. The paper presents the (semi-) formal method developed in the doctoral study and its application to conceptual modeling techniques as they are taught in M&S education. The result shows that objects and relations are well captured, but that processes can be used as an alternative viewpoint as well. Using a process driven viewpoint opens new conceptual insights. We show that using the formal method allows to extend legacy conceptual methods to address these new aspects as well.