Pascal Boyer's Counterontology theory posits that the mind has subsystems for understanding different things in the world. What do these subsystems collectively form?

• A. Ontologies
• B. Theories
• C. Biases
• D. Categories

Answer: (A)

The subsystems act as domain-specific ways the mind interprets different kinds of entities and events—agents, living things, artifacts, substances, causes, and so on. When you bring all these intuitive inputs together, they build a structured, coherent map of what exists and how those things relate to one another. That organized, default framework is an ontology: an underlying mental model that guides how we classify, explain, and predict phenomena across domains. In Boyer’s Counterontology view, these intuitive ontologies shape belief and reasoning about the world, including religious thoughts, because they arise from how we nonconsciously understand various domains. So the best term for what the subsystems collectively form is ontology, rather than theories, biases, or categories.