Varieties of Things: Foundations of Contemporary Metaphysics explores the fundamental ontological categories of things; things that we encounter in everyday life, such as material substances, persons, events and universals.

The author begins with a thorough and accessible discussion of the nature and aims of metaphysics. She then goes on to develop tools that can be used to engage in metaphysical thinking about the basic varieties of things.

The book both surveys existing accounts of the natures of these kinds of things, and argues for unique original positions of its own. The arguments support a systematically anti-reductionist view of the basic ontological categories.

Cynthia Macdonald is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. She is Associate Editor of the Australasian Journal of Philosophy and the author or editor of numerous publications, including The Philosophy of Psychology: Debates on Psychological Explanation (co-edited with Graham Macdonald, Blackwell, 1994), Connectionism: Debates on Psychological Explanation (co-edited with Graham Macdonald, Blackwell, 1995) and Contemporary Readings in the Foundations of Metaphysics (co-edited with Stephen Laurence, Blackwell, 1998).