A One Category Ontology

The fundamental ontology of the world is given by its fundamental categories. Categorical fundamentality is fundamentality in terms of the metaphysically prior: it is that in which everything else in the world consists. Following Peter van Inwagen (forthcoming), take divisions between ontologically fundamental categories to mark “real divisions between things.” These divisions mark out the fundamental categorical structure of the world: i.e., the structure of the fundamental categories is defined by divisions between fundamental categories. Speaking metaphorically, the fundamental categorical structure of the world carves the world at its fundamental joints. The project of determining the fundamental categorical structure of the world descends (arguably) from Aristotle, who started by dividing the realm of being into at leas