Ontological Pluralism, Abhidharma Metaphysics, and the Two Truths: A Response to Kris McDaniel

Abstract

Kris McDaniel has recently proposed an interpretation of the distinction between conventional truth and ultimate truth, as that distinction is made within Abhidharma metaphysics (McDaniel 2019). According to McDaniel's proposal, the distinction between conventional truth and ultimate truth is closely connected with a similar distinction between conventional existence and ultimate existence. What is more, the distinction between conventional existence and ultimate existence should be interpreted along ontological pluralist lines: the difference between things that ultimately exist and things that merely conventionally exist amounts to a difference in the modes of being enjoyed by the things in question.