This essay deals with Simon Evnine’s amorphic hylomorphism (i.e., the view that
objects are not just the sum of their parts, even if forms are not real components), and
the bearings that considerations about modality might have on it. It is suggested that
the assumption of amorphic hylomorphism makes an account of modality extensionally
incorrect in the domain of natural, non-organic objects (NNOs). It is further argued
that, in the case of NNOs, the existence of real forms should be accepted and
this conclusion is claimed to be consistent with scientific knowledge, on the basis of
substance gradualism (i.e., the view that forms are real principles of unification that
operate at different levels of material constitution).
