Easy Ontology, Regress, and Holism

Miller, J.T.M.

doi:10.1007/s10670-021-00432-7

Easy Ontology, Regress, and Holism

Miller, J.T.M.

Authors

Dr James Miller james.miller@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

Abstract

In this paper, I distinguish between two possible versions of Amie Thomasson’s easy ontology project that differ in virtue of positing atomic or holistic application conditions, and evaluate the strengths of a holistic version over a non-holistic version. In particular, I argue that neither of the recently identified regress or circularity problems are troublesome for the supporter of easy ontology if they adopt a holistic account of application conditions. This is not intended to be a defence of easy ontology from all possible objections, but rather to compare holistic and non-holistic versions of the view. This discussion is also significant in that it serves to highlight two distinct forms of easy ontology, which, I argue, need to be distinguished when assessing the merits of the easy approach in future work.

Citation

Miller, J. (2023). Easy Ontology, Regress, and Holism. Erkenntnis, 88, 1855–1868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-021-00432-7

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jun 1, 2021
Online Publication Date	Jun 10, 2021
Publication Date	2023-06
Deposit Date	Jun 9, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Jun 11, 2021
Journal	Erkenntnis
Print ISSN	0165-0106
Electronic ISSN	1572-8420
Publisher	Springer
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	88
Pages	1855–1868
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-021-00432-7
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1247179

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