Ontic Structural Realism and Concrete Objects

Abstract

Ontic structural realism (OSR) claims that reality is fundamentally structural. One way of developing this position is the claim that the identities of objects are determined by their positions in the structures to which they belong. This raises worries particularly with regard to the identity of concrete objects. In this paper, I examine whether the structures on which concrete objects are dependent should themselves be thought of as concrete or abstract. I consider some of the ways in which these structures could be distinguished and argue that the structuralist must appeal to non-structural features to do so. I also consider some problems associated with a Pythagorean OSR which abandons this distinction.

Ontic structural realism, structure, concrete, abstract, identity-dependence