Are there numbers, propositions, or properties? These are questions that are traditionally at the heart of metaphysics. But they appear to have depressingly easy answers. Each of the following innocent statements appears to entail an affirmative answer to a metaphysical question:
The number of moons of Jupiter is four.
It is true that Madagascar is in Africa.
Fido has the property of being a dog.
This is because each entails the metaphysically loaded claim that there is a number, a truth, or a property. The innocent statements are not particularly controversial. Everyone agrees that Jupiter has four moons, that Madagascar is in Africa, and that Fido is a dog. Metaphysics has a reputation as an obscure and (at best) difficult discipline. But it appears to be remarkably easy, if the loaded statements are answers to central metaphysical questions and are settled by ordinary innocent facts (20–22).
These arguments are not...
