6Why Metaphysics Matters
59Modality and Modal Concepts
7The Shape of This Volume
60Leibniz and Possible Worlds
8Chapter 1: The Furniture of the World
61Kripke and Rigid Designation
9Substance and Property
62Modal Realism
10The Problem of Universals
63Actualism and Ersatz Worlds
11The Nominalist Challenge
64Essence and Metaphysical Necessity
12Quine's Question
65Modal Epistemology
13The Ontological Landscape
66Chapter 9: The Parts and the Whole
14What Hangs on Ontology
67The Special Composition Question
15Chapter 2: Being and Nothingness
68Unrestricted Composition
16The Concept of Nothingness
69The Problem of the Many
17Necessary and Contingent Existence
70Constitution Without Identity
18The Ontological Argument Revisited
71Mereological Essentialism
19Heidegger and the Question of Being
72Emergence and Reduction
20Why Anything Exists
73Arbitrary Boundaries and Vague Objects
21The Existential Weight
74What Constitutes Unity?
22Chapter 3: The Thread and the Knot
75Chapter 10: The Abstract Realm
23Continuity and Change
76Platonism About Mathematical Objects
24Sortal Concepts and Essence
77Nominalism: Mathematics Without Abstract Objects
25Personal Identity
78The Indispensability Argument
26Reductionism and What Matters in Survival
79Structuralism
27Temporal Parts and Persistence
80Properties, Propositions, and Sets
28The Philosophical Residue
81Conceptualism and Mental Construction
29Chapter 4: The River and the Block
82The Metaphysics of Possibility Revisited
30The A-Theory: Time as Passage
83Accepting the Abstract
31The B-Theory: The Block Universe
84Chapter 11: The Ground Beneath
32Presentism and Eternalism
85The Concept of Grounding
33The Direction of Time
86Levels and Layers
34Time Travel and Closed Causal Loops
87Fundamental Reality
35Temporal Experience and Metaphysics
88The Completeness of Physics
36Chapter 5: The Invisible Chain
89Grounding and Explanation
37Hume's Challenge
90The Grounding Problem for Physicalism
38Regularity and Counterfactuals
91Metaphysical Dependence and Priority
39Probabilistic Causation
92Skepticism About Grounding
40Interventionism and Manipulation
93The Structure of Reality
41The Disappearance of Causation
94Epilogue: The Persistent Questions
42Causal Direction and Time's Arrow
95The Integration of Metaphysical Inquiry
43The Puzzle Remains
96Metaphysics and Science
44Chapter 6: The Fork in the Road
97The Value of Metaphysical Inquiry
45The Determinist Thesis
98Humility and Wonder
46Libertarian Free Will
99Continuing the Inquiry
47Compatibilism: Freedom Within Determinism
100Appendix A: Timeline
48The Consequence Argument
101Appendix B: Annotated Further Reading
49Neuroscience and the Challenge to Agency
102Primary Historical Sources
50What Hangs in the Balance
103Contemporary Introductions and Overviews
51Chapter 7: The Mind in the Machine
104Specialized Studies
52The Mind-Body Problem as Metaphysics
105Historical Context and Development
53Physicalism and Identity Theory
106Online Resources
