Bare Particulars, Modes, and the Varieties of Dependence

Within some ontological theories, bare or thin particulars are the “kernel” of ordinary substances and they are supposed to clarify some key features of the latter, including their nature. In this article, I wish to offer a new theory of bare particulars, based on an interpretation of properties as modes and on a new reading of the dependence relations holding among entities in terms of respects of dependence. In Sect. 1, I shall introduce bare particulars, modes and respects of dependence. In Sect. 2, I shall consider the relationships between bare particulars, clothed particulars (i.e., ordinary substances) and their properties. I shall present two models and I shall examine some of their problems. In Sects. 3 and 4, I shall present a new model by invoking modes and respects of dependence. This will ground my theory of the relationships between bare particulars, clothed particulars and their properties. Finally, in Sect. 5, I shall compare my model with the second model presented in Sect. 2 and, in Sect. 6, I shall deal with some objections against bare particulars and against my own theory.