*What is the most fundamental question in metaphysics?*
Michael Tooley explains that metaphysics investigates what kinds of things really exist, exploring Berkeley’s idealism, the nature of properties and numbers, and why the existence of a physical world remains a legitimate philosophical question.
0:00 What Is Metaphysics?
0:36 Does the Physical World Exist?
2:30 The Metaphysics of Mind, Qualia, and Mathematics
3:48 Are Necessity and Possibility Fundamental?
5:15 Can Berkeley’s Idealism Be Refuted?
8:22 Why Berkeley Still Challenges Metaphysics
*Michael Tooley* is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received a Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence in Research Award in 1998 for his book _Time, Tense, and Causation,_ and is the author of the new book _Causation: A Defense of a Non-Reductionist Approach_ (Oxford, 2026).
*More from Michael Tooley on Closer To Truth:*
* Closer To Truth: The Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJr3pJl27pLLkP0kHQKL9nZh35UkgkR_
* What Things Really Exist? – CTT Interview Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJr3pJl27pL23EJxiJggorKB66CHSAU-
* Closer To Truth contributors: https://closertotruth.com/contributor/michael-tooley/
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Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
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