Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
this sense, one can think of literature less as some inherent quality or set of qualities displayed by certain kinds of writing all the way from Beowulf to Virginia Woolf, than as a number of ways in which people relate themselves to writing. It would not be easy to isolate, from all that has been variously called ‘literature, some constant set of inherent features. In fact, it would be as impossible as trying to identify the single distinguishing feature which all games have in common. There is no ‘essence’ of literature whatsoever. Any bit of writing may be read ‘non-pragmatically’, if that is what reading a text as literature means, just as any writing may be read ‘poetically. If I pore over the railway timetable not to discover a train connection but to stimulate in myself general reflections on the speed and complexity of modern existence, then I might be said to be reading it as literaturE) John M. Ellis has argued that the term ‘literature’ operates rather like the word ‘weed’: weeds are not particular kinds of plant, but just any kind of plant which for some reason or another a gardener does not want arounD) Perhaps ‘literature’ means something like the opposite: any kind of writing which for some reason or another somebody values highly. As the philosophers might say, ‘literature’ and ‘weed’ are functional rather than ontological terms: they tell us about what we do, not about the fixed being of things.

What is the meaning of the word “ontological”?

The correct option is: Dealing with the study of “being”.

Step-by-step Explanation:

1. Analyze the Context in the Passage:
Near the end of the passage, the text states: "As the philosophers might say, ‘literature’ and ‘weed’ are functional rather than ontological terms: they tell us about what we do, not about the fixed being of things."

2. Interpret the Contrast:
The author explicitly sets up a contrast between two philosophical concepts:
- Functional: Tells us about utility, use, or "what we do" (e.g., calling a plant a "weed" because a gardener does not want it there).
- Ontological: Tells us about the "fixed being of things" (i.e., what the thing inherently is in its essence, regardless of how we use or value it).

3. Philosophical Definition:
In philosophy, ontology is the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence, reality, and being (what exists and how it can be grouped or categorized). The word prefix onto- originates from the Greek word for "being" or "that which exists."

4. Evaluate the Options:
- Dealing with the study of “knowledge systems”: This refers to epistemology.
- Dealing with the study of “being”: This is the correct definition of ontology (ontological).
- Dealing with the study of “society”: This refers to sociology.
- Dealing with the study of “nature”: This is generally related to cosmology or natural philosophy/physics.

Thus, based on both standard philosophical definitions and the contextual clue ("the fixed being of things") provided in the text, the term "ontological" means dealing with the study of "being".