Introduction

Metaphysics sometimes seems to have a particularly special or important place within the wider philosophical enterprise. For some, it is the centre of philosophical work, devoted to trying to answer the fundamental questions that could be asked about the world around us. For others, it is nonsense, mere sophistry masquerading as serious intellectual inquiry. Naturally, between these two extremes are various middle-ground positions – perhaps metaphysics does ask substantive questions, but it has been taken over in importance by empirical science, or perhaps metaphysical answers reveal more about us and the conceptual schemes we employ than about the ultimate nature of reality.