The Structure of Reality and the Reality of Structure

This Open Access book focuses on two overlapping trends in philosophy: Naturalising Metaphysics and The Metaphysics of Science. It examines questions such as: Can we only find out what the structure of reality is or can we find out more? And if more, what exactly? Is structure the locus of modality? Can structural realism be a basis for modal knowledge? If structure is the fundamental substance of reality that grounds everything there is, then what is structure, and what are structures? Can and should we have a novel theory of physical structure(s) to answer that question? If so, what does such a theory of structure look like? Can structuralism make sense of the concepts of natural kind and law of nature? Or is the existence of natural kinds incompatible with structuralism? How exactly does scientific theory inform us about the structure(s) of reality? What is the current status of the 2nd Underdetermination Thesis (of the metaphysics by the physics)? What are structural properties? What is the relation between mathematical structures and reality? Is there such a thing as effective metaphysics? The book brings philosophers of science, philosophers of physics and metaphysicists together to answer these questions.