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Comments on Ontology Made Easy by Amie Thomasson
Author(s) -
Hawley Katherine
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
philosophy and phenomenological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1933-1592
pISSN - 0031-8205
DOI - 10.1111/phpr.12616
Subject(s) - citation , ontology , computer science , philosophy , library science , epistemology
Ontology Made Easy is a wonderful book. It vindicates the disquiet felt by many people about contemporary metaphysical wrangles over the existence of numbers, propositions, ‘arbitrary sums’, and the like. Yet it does not require the reader to countenance anti-realism, relativism, or multiple types of existence. It even leaves some honest toil for metaphysicians to do once the dust has settled, so long as we do not get ideas above our station. Thomasson provides a powerful critique of mainstream approaches to ontology, and I am tempted to suggest an alternative title for future reprints: ‘Ontologists Made Uneasy’.