02024 - Beyond Metaphysics: November 2024

Metametaphysics – branch of metaphysics concerned with the foundations of metaphysics (which is concerned primarily with the foundations of reality). It asks: "Do the questions of metaphysics really have answers? If so, are these answers substantive or just a matter of how we use words? And what is the best procedure for arriving at them—common sense? Conceptual analysis? Or assessing competing hypotheses with quasi-scientific criteria?"

meta metaphysics

Metametaphysics is the philosophical study of metaphysics and its methodology. It's a field that emerged in the late 1990s and is closely related to epistemology and philosophy of science.

Metametaphysics asks questions like:

What is the proper subject matter of metaphysics?
What methods should be used to address metaphysical disputes?
Is metaphysical knowledge possible?
What metaphysical claims do answers to these questions commit one to?

One way to approach metametaphysics is to distinguish metaontology, which focuses on these questions as they relate to ontology, from other topics. However, the distinction between metaontology and other topics is a subject of ongoing metametaphysical debate.