Flatworldism: A (Reluctant) Defense

Flatworldism is a view on the nature of reality according to which reality lacks a certain kind of – hierarchical – structure. Prima facie what this means is that reality’s inhabitants are not sub-dividable into the more and less fundamental such that what is more fundamental (at least sometimes) makes what is less fundamental exist and be the way it is. Flatworldism is not a view I hold. In general, I think a view according to which reality is hierarchically structured is preferable to one according to which it is not. Still, I think Flatworldism has received an unfair hearing in recent literature. In this paper I therefore play devil’s advocate and defend Flatworldism against some of the criticisms that have been raised against it. My long game is a defense of the hierarchical—grounding—conception of reality. My hope is that, in identifying the strongest most charitable version of Flatworldism, I will be able to more clearly formulate and then more persuasively argue for its opposite.