Sums of Things

Let's talk about sums of things. Or more specifically, let's talk about their ontology. There are three options with respect to the ontological status of sums. First, one may say that sums do not exist. There are no sums. There is no such thing as the sum of A, B and C. What exists is just A, B and C separately. Nothing more and nothing less. Alternatively one may hold that the sum of A, B and C does exist but is nothing more than A, B and C taken together. The sum of A, B and C is nothing over and beyond A, B and C considered as a whole. The sum is identical to these three objects counted as one. Finally, one may hold that the sum is more than just A, B and C taken together. But what does this surplus, this "more", consist in? It's the togetherness hypostatized. It's the act of taking them together that has ontological import.