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The relationship between a revisionary theory of formal ontology and the language we use to express our thoughts about the world is not an easy one to spell out. Language will inevitably play an important role in the development of any theory, but the revisionary metaphysician cannot look past the difficulties that arise in every attempt to "get to' the world through the meaning and/or logical form of language. The revisionary challenge lies in its search for a foundation or source of knowledge. If language is no longer a reliable guide, what is? Modern revisionary metaphysicians have tended to distinguish themselves from descriptive metaphysicians, as Whitehead does, by stressing the empirical element in their theorising. Of course the way we think and talk about the world will, even to them, serve as the starting point of inquiry, but the results must then always be tested against, and revised in accordance with, accepted modern scientific theories. But here, again, the intricacies and idiosyncasies of language will interfere. Even science is expressed in a language, and it is to scientific expressions that the revisionary metaphysician must turn.

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-0079-5_4

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