Full Idea
For us the importance of the category of substance, if it has any importance, is not so much ontological as relative to our epistemological circumstances and the conditions under which we have to undertake inquiry.
Gist of Idea
The category of substance is more important for epistemology than for ontology
Source
David Wiggins (Substance [1995], 4.13.2)
Book Reference
'Philosophy: a Guide Through the Subject', ed/tr. Grayling,A.C. [OUP 1995], p.244
A Reaction
This seems to be a rather significant concession. Wiggins has revived the notion of substance in recent times, but he is not quite adding it to the furniture of the world. Personally I increasingly think we can dump it, in ontology and epistemology.