In order to perfectly describe the world, it is not enough to speak truly. One must also use the right concepts ‐ including the right logical concepts. One must use concepts that ``carve at the joints’’, that give the world’s *structure*. There is an objectively correct way to “write the book of the world”. Metaphysics, as traditionally conceived, is about the fundamental nature of reality; in the present terms, metaphysics is about the world’s structure. Metametaphysics ‐ inquiry into the status of metaphysical questions ‐ turns on structure. The question of whether ontological, causal, or mo ... More

In order to perfectly describe the world, it is not enough to speak truly. One must also use the right concepts ‐ including the right logical concepts. One must use concepts that ``carve at the joints’’, that give the world’s *structure*. There is an objectively correct way to “write the book of the world”. Metaphysics, as traditionally conceived, is about the fundamental nature of reality; in the present terms, metaphysics is about the world’s structure. Metametaphysics ‐ inquiry into the status of metaphysical questions ‐ turns on structure. The question of whether ontological, causal, or modal questions are “substantive” is in large part a question of whether the world has ontological, causal, and modal structure ‐ whether quantifiers, causal relations, and modal operators carve at the joints.