there are some questions we may ask as a we speculate about a sofa ontology:

• what does a sofa want to know?
• how does that sofa go about knowing?
• can we place into a metaphorical black box the questions that would speculate on a sofa’s self awareness?
• whence does a sofa derive its identity?
• what material is comprised to form the sofa? from what is it composed?
• what is the origin of said material?
• can said material degrade or decompose gracefully?

there are some questions we may ask about the companion species that the sofa uses to come into being:

• does a sofa require that the companion species endure certain trials of fitness?
• does the companion need to meet certain qualifications?
• can every member of the companion species participate?
• is there a set of knowledge in the ecosystem that would enable the companion species to self-organize and bring sofas into being?
• what are the minimal (or minimum) skills required of the companion species to afford the opportunity for sofas to come into being?
• can the knowledge and skills be contained in a single member of the companion species?
• will the companion species be allowed the opportunity to exist as an epiphyte to the sofa?
• is there a way to optimize the organization of the companion species so that many sofas come into being?

and back to questions about the sofa:

• are sofas social?
• is each sofa a selfish actor?
• does each sofa attract its composer and then rest?
• or does the ecology of sofas propagate multitudes?