ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that there is an important and interesting difference of form between the 'ontological turn' and a number of the 'schools'. It provides an analysis in anthropology more broadly: in other words, of anthropological theory. The chapter discusses the critical perspectives on the turn, but for the sake of avoiding confusion from the outset, it is worth making clear that, like its progenitors, the ontological turn is aiming to collapse distinctions between ontology and epistemology. It considers the ontological turn has been the target of a significant quantity of critique since its inception. Some of these critics begin with the use of the word itself, and the confusion it is liable to generate amongst those who use it. The chapter concludes that the language of heuristics can often have the effect of closing down, rather than opening up, discussion and debate.
