What is Metaphysics?

John Heil is Professor of Philosophy at Washington University in St Louis, Professor of Philosophy at Durham University, and an Honorary Research Associate at Monash University. Professor Heil is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities and is listed among the 50 Most Influential Living Philosophers.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsChapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Time goes By – Or Does It?Chapter 3 Appearance and RealityChapter 4 What there IsChapter 5 What Else there Is Chapter 6 One from Many, Many from OneChapter 7 Aristotle vs HumeChapter 8 Is this Chapter Really Necessary?Chapter 9 Conscious MindsChapter 10 Free WillChapter 11 Are We there Yet?  Index

“Metaphysics is surely one of the most fascinating, and misunderstood, areas of philosophy. This very entertaining and accessible book provides an excellent introduction to metaphysics. If you’ve ever wondered ‘what is time?’ or ‘what is the world made up of, most fundamentally?’ or ‘what kinds of things are causes?’, then this is the book for you. It's a great place to start thinking about, and going some way towards answering, these questions (and more besides).”Kristie Miller, University of Sydney“This precious short book has as its aim to demonstrate, by example, the inevitability and pervasiveness of metaphysics. John Heil leads readers through the main metaphysical topics, enabling them to become aware of their own metaphysical preconceptions and to start thinking about those topics in a reflective way. An essential book.”Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra, University of Oxford