Amie L. Thomasson, Professor of Philosophy, University of Miami

Amie Thomasson is Professor of Philosophy and Cooper Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Miami. She is the author of Ordinary Objects and Fiction and Metaphysics, and co-editor (with David W. Smith) of Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind. In addition, she has published more than 50 book chapters and articles on topics in metaphysics, metaontology, fiction, philosophy of mind and phenomenology, the philosophy of art, and social ontology.

Winner of the 2017 Sanders Book Prize by the American Philosophical Association.

"Ontology Made Easy is an original and thought-provoking book, which will probably appeal to all those philosophers who, like the author of these lines, for a long time have been looking for a more modest and fruitful way of doing analytic ontology." - Luc Schneider (Saarland University), Dialectica

"The book's chief virtue lies in how methodically and artfully it collates and re-evaluates the criticisms that have kept easy approaches to ontology at bay for the past fifty years. Thomasson ingeniously defends the view against a variety of challenges, including the charge that the approach is implicitly circular in its reasoning and the accusation that easy approaches to ontology render the question of what exists implausibly dependent on human activity." - Tom Graham, The Times Literary Supplement

"Ontology Made Easy has many virtues. It is thoroughly conversant with the best and most influential current work in ontology, and Thomasson situates her positions and arguments within cutting-edge work very well. Thomassonâs writing is admirably clear and uncluttered. And her arguments and positions are consistently very sensible: Thomasson consistently avoids overly subtle technical distinctions or recondite formalism, whenever a more natural and intuitive way of expressing a point is available. So, if you wonder whether "Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology" could withstand the scrutiny of modern-day metaphysicians, you should read Thomassonâs book." - Greg Frost-Arnold, Metascience

"This important book offers an interpretation and defence of the neo-Carnapian deflationist view of ontology - a view which, as Thomasson persuasively argues, has been widely misunderstood. It fills a significant gap in the literature, and does so with Thomasson's characteristic thoroughness, insight and clarity." - Huw Price, Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy, Cambridge

"Amie Thomasson's book, Ontology Made Easy, is a beautifully written defense of one of the most influential and most often discussed positions in contemporary metaphysics-her own deflationary take on existence propositions. This book also casts a new light on the debate between Quine and Carnap, a debate that has informed much of contemporary metaphysics, and defends her minimalist view against objections. It will be widely discussed in the years to come." - Comments from the selection committee chair of the APA's 2017 Sanders Book Prize