Schaffer, Jonathan

"We must be willing to revise our conception of what is real."

"The most important questions in metaphysics are often the simplest-sounding ones."

"Properties depend on objects, but what is an object independent of properties?"

"Our theories about reality must account for both the obvious and the hidden."

"Fundamentality is a ladder we must climb carefully, questioning each rung."

"The whole and the parts dance together in ways we do not fully understand."

"Metaphysical progress requires both innovation and humility."

"We are all metaphysicians whether we acknowledge it or not."

"The structure of reality might be radically different from how it appears."

"Questions about existence are never truly settled; they are refined."

"Objects are not mysteries if we ask the right questions about them."

"The way we think about fundamentals shapes everything that follows."

"Causation and grounding may point us toward deeper truths about reality."

"We should follow the arguments wherever they lead, even if uncomfortable."

"The nature of properties is as puzzling as the nature of objects."

"Time itself might be less fundamental than we assume."

"Existence is not a property but the very ground of all properties."

"We construct our understanding of reality brick by brick, concept by concept."

"The world's furniture might include things we have never conceived of."

"Philosophical progress often means recognizing our previous errors."

"The puzzle of composition is as old as philosophy itself."

"Reality's blueprint is written in a language we are still learning to read."

"We must distinguish between what seems true and what actually is true."

"Objects may be dependent on a background that we have not yet identified."

"The fundamental question is not 'what exists' but 'what makes existence possible'."

"Metaphysics requires both rigorous logic and imaginative thinking."

"We inherit the world as it is, but we understand it through our concepts."

"The search for fundamentals is the search for the ground of being."

"Causation connects events, but grounding connects truths."

"What we take for granted often deserves the closest scrutiny."