Introduction

In both Britain and the United States the revival of metaphysics was gradual. At first, there was a piecemeal character to the work in the field of philosophy. With rare exceptions, philosophers were wary of large-scale metaphysical theories-the construction of comprehensive ontological schemes, theories about the nature of and relations among the most abstract categories under which absolutely everything falls, and the use of this ontological machinery to settle issues about mind-body relations, causation, the philosophy of religion, and so on. Comprehensive, ontology-driven metaphysics was associated with the names of the idealists whom Russell and Moore had effectively defeated.