Overview

Both science and philosophy are interested in questions of ontology - questions about what exists and what these things are like. Science and philosophy, however, seem like very different ways of investigating the world, so how should one proceed? Some defer to the sciences, conceived as something apart from philosophy, and others to metaphysics, conceived as something apart from science, for certain kinds of answers. This book contends that these sorts of deference are misconceived. A compelling account of ontology must appreciate the ways in which the sciences incorporate metaphysical assumptions and arguments. At the same time, it must pay careful attention to how observation, experience, and the empirical dimensions of science are related to what may be viewed as defensible philosophical theorizing about ontology. The promise of an effectively naturalized metaphysics is to encourage beliefs that are formed in ways that do justice to scientific theorizing, modeling, and experimentation. But even armed with such a view, there is no one, uniquely rational way to draw lines between domains of ontology that are suitable for belief, and ones in which it would be better to suspend belief instead. In crucial respects, ontology is in the eye of the beholder: it is informed by underlying commitments with implications for the limits of inquiry, which inevitably vary across rational inquirers. As result, the proper scope of ontology is subject to a striking form of voluntary choice, yielding a new and transformative conception of scientific ontology.

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9780197510254

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Reviews

Chakravartty's book is a delight. His combination of realism in metaphysics and voluntarism in epistemology gives him a uniquely insightful approach to all the issues concerning scientific realism and what Chakravartty calls its unavoidable dilemmas. I regard this as required reading for anyone intent on continuing the debate. * Bas van Fraassen, Princeton University and San Francisco State University * This is a richly rewarding work, peppered from the get-go with thought-provoking observations, philosophical insights of all sorts, and a wealth of apt examples drawn from across the scientific spectrum. As such, it should be a centrepiece of the continuing debate on what we should ultimately aspire to in metaphysics. * Kerry McKenzie, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science * A smart, historically informed, highly readable-and commendably nontechnical-defense of 'natural ontology', according to which science and metaphysics are inextricably intertwined. The book will be of interest to historians and philosophers of science, and to anyone who has wondered about the place of metaphysics in a world in which science has come to be the measure of all things. * John Heil, Washington University St. Louis and Monash University *

A smart, historically informed, highly readable-and commendably nontechnical-defense of 'natural ontology', according to which science and metaphysics are inextricably intertwined. The book will be of interest to historians and philosophers of science, and to anyone who has wondered about the place of metaphysics in a world in which science has come to be the measure of all things. * John Heil, Washington University St. Louis and Monash University * This is a richly rewarding work, peppered from the get-go with thought-provoking observations, philosophical insights of all sorts, and a wealth of apt examples drawn from across the scientific spectrum. As such, it should be a centrepiece of the continuing debate on what we should ultimately aspire to in metaphysics. * Kerry McKenzie, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science * Chakravartty's book is a delight. His combination of realism in metaphysics and voluntarism in epistemology gives him a uniquely insightful approach to all the issues concerning scientific realism and what Chakravartty calls its unavoidable dilemmas. I regard this as required reading for anyone intent on continuing the debate. * Bas van Fraassen, Princeton University and San Francisco State University *

Author Information

Anjan Chakravartty is the Appignani Foundation Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami, where he works on topics in the philosophy of science, metaphysics, and epistemology. He has taught previously at the Universities of Cambridge, Toronto, and Notre Dame.

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