ABSTRACT
Dictionary definitions of ontology allow a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being and a particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds of things that have existence. Whereas mind–body dualism has focused ontological inquiry on one species of one phylum of one kingdom, the warrant of organism–environment duality is an ontology that encompasses all species of all phyla of all several Kingdoms. Further, whereas mind–body dualism has focused ontological inquiry on the special qualities of human mental states, the warrant of organism–environment duality is an ontology befitting prospective control as manifest, in greater or lesser degree, by each and every organism. The foregoing anticipates that concern is an ontology befitting the ecological scale, an ontology that bears on the organisms composing the several Kingdoms, particularly, the “how” of their living and the “where” of their living.
