Modern science has discovered that the universe is governed by precise laws. These laws determine how matter behaves, how stars form, how atoms combine, and what kinds of things can exist.

The philosopher James Ladyman, in his book “Every Thing Must Go,” argues that the deepest level of reality may not be made up mainly of separate little objects. Instead, reality may be based on a network of laws, relationships, and possibilities. An electron, for example, is understood largely by how it behaves and interacts.

Ladyman also argues that the larger things studied by chemistry, biology, and the other sciences are real. Molecules, cells, animals, minds, and societies are not illusions simply because they are........

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