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Metaphysics asks questions about existence: for example, do numbers really exist? Metametaphysics asks questions about metaphysics: for example, do its questions have determinate answers? If so, are these answers deep and important, or are they merely a matter of how we use words? What is the proper methodology for their resolution? These questions have received a heightened degree of attention lately with new varieties of ontological deflationism and pluralism challenging the kind of realism that has become orthodoxy in contemporary analytic metaphysics. This volume concerns the status and ambitions of metaphysics as a discipline. It brings together many of the central figures in the debate with their most recent work on the semantics, epistemology, and methodology of metaphysics.
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Metametaphysics
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Metametaphysics New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology
edited by
David Chalmers, David Manley, and Ryan Wasserman
C L A RE N D O N P RE S S · OX F O RD
1
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York the several contributors 2009 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Metametaphysics: new essays on the foundations of ontology / edited by David Chalmers, David Manley, and Ryan Wasserman. p. cm. Includes index. This volume grew out of two conferences, one held at the Australian National University in June 2005, and another held at Boise State University in Mar. 2007. ISBN 978–0–19–954600–8 (pbk.: alk. paper)—ISBN 978–0–19–954604–6 (hardback: alk. paper) 1. Ontology—Congresses. 2. Metaphysics—Congresses. I. Chalmers, David John, 1966– II. Manley, David. III. Wasserman, Ryan. BD311.M483 2009 110.1—dc22 2008046062 Typeset by Laserwords Private Limited, Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire ISBN 978–0–19–954604–6 (Hbk.) ISBN 978–0–19–954600–8 (Pbk.) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acknowledgments This volume grew out of two conferences on Metametaphysics: one held at the Australian National University (ANU) in June 2005, and another held at Boise State University in March 2007. We are grateful to the Australian Research Council for making the ANU conference possible (via funding for David Chalmers’ Federation Fellowship project), and to Andrew Cortens for organizing the Boise State conference. We also owe thanks to