Methodology
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Metaphysicians employ a variety of methods to develop metaphysical theories and formulate arguments for and against them.[97] Traditionally, a priori methods have been the dominant approach. They rely on rational intuition and abstract reasoning from general principles rather than sensory experience. A posteriori approaches, by contrast, ground metaphysical theories in empirical observations and scientific theories.[98] Some metaphysicians incorporate perspectives from fields such as physics, psychology, linguistics, and history into their inquiry.[99] The two approaches are not mutually exclusive: it is possible to combine elements from both.[100] The method a metaphysician chooses often depends on their understanding of the nature of metaphysics, for example, whether they see it as an inquiry into the mind-independent structure of reality, as metaphysical realists claim, or the principles underlying thought and experience, as some metaphysical anti-realists contend.[101]