"Is personal identity psychological or physical? Determinism and freedom: are they incompatible? Do abstract entities - universals, propositions, and numbers - really exist? Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics addresses these and many more of the most contentious issues in the field today." "An introductory essay on the nature of metaphysics prepares the reader for the text's distinctive format - a series of head-to-head debates by eighteen leading professionals in metaphysics. Squaring off on opposite sides of the issues, they debate nine of the deepest and most puzzling topics in contemporary metaphysics." "Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics is a resource for advanced students and professional philosophers alike."--BOOK JACKET.