On the Ontology of Relations

Abstract

In A Theory of Universals (1978) Armstrong regretted that the interest around the dispute on internal and external relations had died away with the decline of Absolute Idealism. Further, in consequence of this, advances in the ontology of relations have not been comparable with the great advances in the topic of the logic of relations. Since Armstrong wrote this, some time has passed by, but the situation is essentially unchanged. Some investigation concerning relations has been done, but I think that many of them were contaminated by old prejudices. This paper is intended as a contribution to minimize this gap. I will defend and argue in favour of some positive claims concerning the ontological status of relations. The main topics – and corresponding sections – of this paper are (1) irreducibility, (2) externality and (3) reality of relations. Thus, my topics exactly coincide with Russell’s main topics in the theory of relations. But my purpose here is not an exegetical investigation of the controversy between classical authors like Russell, Bradley and Leibniz.1 I will just offer some cursorily historical remarks in order to introduce the questions, but then I will propose some (I hope) original theses and arguments.