This article presents a critical-propositional analysis of Sybren Heyndels’s “A Problem for Easy Ontology” (2021), published in Disputatio. Philosophical Research Bulletin and available on Zenodo under DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4718649, in dialogue with the Theory of Objectivity (TO). The study examines Heyndels’s critique of Amie Thomasson’s easy ontology, especially his argument that the ordinary predicate “exist(s)” cannot be fully reduced to a second-order predicate governed only by internal application conditions. By recovering the so-called Strawson-cases, Heyndels shows that there are ordinary contexts in which “exist(s)” functions as a first-order predicate, attributing a substantive condition to entities that are distinguishable from fictional, merely conceptual, or non-instantiated objects.
In confrontation with the modal discipline of the Theory of Objectivity, the article argues that Heyndels’s critique provides a relevant metaontological bridge for defending a substantive concept of existence. The analysis articulates this point with the foundational bibliography of TO, its recent developments, and selected works in philosophy of physics and cosmology. Particular attention is given to the TO notions of logical Nothing, boundary, objective difference, phenomenic elements, Inducer Effects, the cosmogonic theorem, cosmological Eras, and the transcendent element understood as knowledge or information produced in atomic relations and equivalent to atomic radiation.
The article concludes that Heyndels’s work does not offer an empirical, physical, or cosmological corroboration of TO, since it remains within the domain of ordinary-language philosophy and metaontology. Nevertheless, it constitutes a philosophically significant interlocutor for TO by preserving the legitimacy of substantive existence questions against purely deflationary approaches. The dialogue score proposed for the relation between Heyndels’s article and the Theory of Objectivity is 7.8/10.
This analytical text received analytical support from ChatGPT.
Keywords: Theory of Objectivity; Vidamor Cabannas; Denivaldo Silva; Sybren Heyndels; A Problem for Easy Ontology; easy ontology; existence; first-order predicate; second-order predicate; Strawson-cases; Amie Thomasson; Carnap; metaontologymetaontology; modal ontology; logical Nothing; boundary; phenomenic elements; Inducer Effects; cosmogonic theorem; cosmological Eras; atomic radiation; information; philosophy of language; philosophy of physics.
Publication Date: 2026-06-20