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Easy Ontology, quantification, and realism

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Marschall, Benjamin 

Abstract

Abstract: Amie Thomasson has defended a view called Easy Ontology, according to which most ontological questions can be answered straightforwardly using conceptual truths and empirical knowledge. Furthermore, she claims that this deflationary meta-ontology does not commit her to any form of anti-realism. In this paper I identify a problem with Thomasson’s account of quantification, according to which everything we quantify over falls under a sortal. Thomasson’s defence of the easiness of answering ontological questions relies on a certain thesis about the hierarchical order of sortals, but the case for the compatibility of Easy Ontology and realism suggests that this thesis is actually false.

Description

Funder: Arts and Humanities Research Council; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000267


Funder: Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003343

Keywords

Article, Meta-Ontology, Easy Ontology, Amie Thomasson, Quantification, Realism, Anti-realism

Journal Title

Synthese

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0039-7857
1573-0964

Volume Title

198

Publisher

Springer Netherlands