An introduction to metametaphysics / Tuomas E. Tahko, University of Helsinki.

Includes bibliographical references and index

Why should you care about metametaphysics? -- Quine vs. Carnap: on what there is and what there isn't -- Quantification and ontological commitment -- Identifying the alternatives: ontological realism, deflationism, and conventionalism -- Grounding and ontological dependence -- Fundamentality and levels of reality -- The epistemology of metaphsics: a priori or a posteriori? -- Intuitions and thought experiments in metaphysics -- Demarcating metaphysics and science: can metaphysics be naturalized?

How do we come to know metaphysical truths? How does metaphysical inquiry work? Are metaphysical debates substantial? These are the questions which characterize metametaphysics. This book, the first systematic student introduction dedicated to metametaphysics, discusses the nature of metaphysics - its methodology, epistemology, ontology and our access to metaphysical knowledge. It provides students with a firm grounding in the basics of metametaphysics, covering a broad range of topics in metaontology such as existence, quantification, ontological commitment and ontological realism. Contemporary views are discussed along with those of Quine, Carnap and Meinong. Going beyond the metaontological debate, thorough treatment is given to novel topics in metametaphysics, including grounding, ontological dependence, fundamentality, modal epistemology, intuitions, thought experiments and the relationship between metaphysics and science. The book will be an essential resource for those studying advanced metaphysics, philosophical methodology, metametaphysics, epistemology and the philosophy of science. [Provided by the publisher]