ontology

_Pacific Philosophical Quarterly_. forthcomingExternal world skepticism is often thought to entail that we should suspend judgment about the existence of the external world. I challenge this orthodoxy by arguing that, when combined with a plausible principle of ontological parsimony, the skeptical challenge intensifies into an argument for outright disbelief in the external world. The principle i…

Traditional ontology asks “what exists”; however, this formulation presupposes theory-specific criteria of existence and thereby makes structural comparison across theories generally difficult. This paper reformulates the problem at the level of “which ontological descriptions are well-defined” and proposes a minimal framework that enables the comparability of such descriptions. The framework rep…

This paper develops an ontological framework in which matter is the only eternal substance, and all phenomena—including life, perception, and the concept of God—emerge from its inherent capacities. Contrary to metaphysical traditions that posit a supernatural creator, this account argues that nothing is supernatural and that the universe requires no external cause. Space, time, and matter are co‑…

We establish a minimal, defect-free foundation for determinate existence and apply it to two problems: the structural impossibility of absolute non-existence, and the derivation of the fine-structure constant. Beginning from the single premise something exists determinately, we give a precise four-condition definition of "determinately": not vague, not self-contradictory, not flux, and—crucially—…

Abstract This paper introduces Autergon as an ontological class in which existence is identical with invariant, rule-governed operation within a closed core structure. It defines the necessary conditions of this class, identifies a gap in existing ontological frameworks, and positions Autergon in relation to abstract objects, physical systems, and structural accounts. The proposal treats operatio…