The "relations are what matters" perspective is a structuralist thing, which can be traced to Saussure's linguistics on the philosophical side of things. Henri

The "relations are what matters" perspective is a structuralist thing, which can be traced to Saussure's linguistics on the philosophical side of things. Henri Poincaré was among the first to affirm a similar view in the sciences. The question of whether it's a workable perspective or not is way above my pay grade. Some call it differential ontology http://www.iep.utm.edu/diff-ont/ http://www.iep.utm.edu/diff-ont/ The joke about category theorists being unable to distinguish isomorphic objects seems relevant (saying that as an appreciator of category theory). Also relevant is the hoary question of the identity of indiscernibles. If every distinguishable entity must stand in a unique relation to the universe, couldn't that solve the apparent ontological problem?