Not so long ago philosophers and scientists were deeply critical of overall metaphysical accounts of the world arguing that they were empty nonsense and should be consigned to the dustbin. 'Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe on instinct' concluded the author Somerset Maugham. But metaphysics is back. Idealism, possible worlds, panpsychism all have their adherents. 'We are living in a simulation', Matrix followers, like Elon Musk, intone. But is this a fundamental error, that we once had recognised and have now forgotten, that trades evidence and reality for fiction and fantasy?
Should we recognise all overall metaphysical accounts as speculative nonsense? Since there can be no empirical evidence for any of them, is contemporary science the only way to determine the nature of things? Or might metaphysics be not only necessary but unavoidable.