Representing part-whole relations in conceptual modelling : a comparison of object-oriented and entity relationship modellers

The idea that one thing may be part of another thing seems fundamental to the way humans perceive and understand phenomena. Part-whole (or meronymic) relations have been of interest to philosophers concerned with ontology (eg. Bunge, 1977; Weber, 1997; Chisholm, 1996) and psychologists concerned with human cognition (eg. Winston et aI., 1987).