Appearance

The second half of my metaphysical backdrop concerns the nature of appearances, which is the topic of this chapter. I argue on metasemantic grounds for a factive conception of appearances (according to which if it appears to be the case that p, then p), but I also argue against a layered conception of reality that would stratify such appearances as a less-than-fully-real portion of the world. The distinction between mere truths and perspicuous truths, sketched in the previous chapter, will lead to a less inflationary characterization of the realm of appearances. After some observations on the notion of truth itself, the relation between reality and appearances will be discussed, primarily in the form of the explanatory relations that philosophers can posit to explain appearances in terms of reality. Some inkling of the methodology of metaphysics will be offered.