Meta Ontology

Abstract. This article addresses a difficult case at the intersection of philosophicaltheology and truthmaker theory. I show that three views, together, lead to difficultiesin providing truthmakers for truths of contingent predication, such as that thebread is white. These three views are: the Catholic dogma of transubstantiation, astandard truthmaker theory, and a trope (or accident) view of properties. I presentand explain each of these three views, at each step noting their connections to thethought of St. Thomas Aquinas. After presenting the three views, I show why theyentail a difficulty for providing truthmakers for truths of contingent predication,drawing on two cases that are not impossible, for all we know. I then present fourways that one can respond to this difficulty, afterward noting some shortcomingsof those responses.