Analytic Metaphysics Versus Naturalized Metaphysics: The Relevance of Applied Ontology

International audienceThe relevance of analytic metaphysics has come under criticism: Ladyman and Ross, for instance, have suggested do discontinue the field. French and McKenzie have argued in defense of analytic metaphysics that it develops tools that could turn out to be useful for philosophy of physics. In this article, we show first that this heuristic defense of metaphysics can be extended to the scientific field of applied ontology, which uses constructs from analytic metaphysics. Second, we elaborate on a parallel by French and McKenzie between mathematics and metaphysics to show that the whole field of analytic metaphysics, being useful not only for philosophy but also for science, should continue to exist as a largely autonomous field