Sets of Objects: An Ontology of Physical Reality

This paper presents an ontological approach to physical reality, based on the notion of sets of similar objects, in which an object appears not as a single isolated entity but as a class of realisations of a certain type that is continually created by the set itself. The properties of objects are examined, and a criterion of ontological existence is formulated, based on belonging to a set of objects that creates new objects of its own type. It is shown how the proposed ontology leads to a description of the motion of massless and massive objects as wave processes. Consistency with special relativity and the structure of Minkowski spacetime is demonstrated; the photon and the massive process receive an ontological interpretation through light-like components. The set of basic objects is interpreted as a homogeneous, isotropic physical medium. The approach does not alter the mathematical formalism of contemporary physics, but offers its ontological interpretation.