Metametaphysics

Ordinary metaphysics investigates what exists, such as whether numbers are real objects. Metametaphysics turns that inquiry back on itself, asking whether metaphysical disputes have definite answers, whether those answers would be deep and important or amount to matters of how we use words, and which methods should be used to settle them.

These questions have drawn fresh attention recently, driven by newer forms of ontological deflationism and pluralism that challenge realism, the view that has largely dominated contemporary analytic metaphysics. The collection examines what kind of enterprise metaphysics is and what it can hope to achieve as a discipline.

It gathers recent work from a large group of key participants in the debate. The contributions address the semantics, epistemology, and methodology of metaphysics.