Abstract

This article, originally published in Finnish, provides a systematic introduction to the nature, subject matter, methods, and epistemic aims of metaphysics. It characterizes metaphysics as a discipline concerned with understanding the fundamental structure of reality as a whole, including questions about what exists, what kinds of entities there are, how they exist, and how they depend on one another. The discussion surveys central metaphysical topics such as ontological categories, essence, modality, causation, laws of nature, and fundamentality, and presents major contemporary approaches, including neo-Quinean ontology, grounding-based metaphysics, and formal ontology. Finally, the paper defends the view that metaphysical inquiry is unavoidable, as any attempt to understand reality presupposes metaphysical commitments, even in its critiques.