o the merged ontology do not, from what I can see, hinge on
&gt;debates about nominalism versus realism or about the source and
&gt;justification of our concepts or etc.

Maybe not, but they *do* encode (and, in the way they  are written 
presume) specific ontological stances on a number of issues, and 
thereby implicitly rejecting other positions.

&gt; &gt;
&gt; &gt; I, Pat Hayes, John Sowa, Chris Partridge, Nicola Guarino
&gt; &gt; (please correct me
&gt; &gt; if I am mistaken) and perhaps others would a