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In this article, I argue for a realist anthropology based on the recognition of mind-independent reality; pitching this premise against concerted anti-dualist tendencies in contemporary anthropological thinking. I spell out core analytical entailments of these, in my view, profoundly conflicting premises. In particular, I focus on perspectival multi-naturalism, arguing that despite adherents’ claims to reinvigorate studies of ‘ontology’, this approach instead exaggerates epistemological dimensions. When assessed from a realist stance, its ground position engenders a series of epistemic fallacies by which the ontological is, effectively, subordinated under epistemology. Advocates’ reluctance to appreciate a distinction between mind and mind-independent reality entails a profound contraction of perspective in terms of empirical and methodological scope, and, analytically, a disregard for ontological complexity and depth, thus curtailing the importance of anthropology in wider academic discourse.

Viruses beyond epistemic fallacy The call for contributions rightly underscores the magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis; virtually all aspects of life are affected. Moreover, no human is safe; the pandemic is global-thus threatening to subvert any territorial demarcation that inhabitants or analysts instigate. This levelling effect provokes questions about existence across or beyond human delineations (especially those purported to be 'ontological'), and a perceptive anthropology should confront this challenge squarely. Specifically, I argue for theory rooted in a philosophical realism that overcomes epistemic fallacies (Bhaskar 2008: 397), i.e. the mistaken presumption that queries about existence can only be framed in terms of queries about human knowledge, such as in terms of people's 'concepts'. The core question is, to reiterate Laidlaw's critique, '[W]hat on earth happens at the boundaries between … different ontologies, and when things or people cross from one to another?' (2012: np). Or, to rephrase the challenge: What, exactly, are 'the things' that now traverse all kinds of human-made boundaries? Contemplate the logical implications of multi-naturalist ontology! Presently, scientists agree that coronaviruses are behind the epidemic, while some (sceptics or

Varieties of Javanese Religion: An Anthropological Account. Andrew Beatty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. x + 272 pp., glossary, map, notes, references, index.