  In what follows, we shall sometimes speak of Quine’s account of the world as his “metaphysics”, but it is metaphysics naturalized: it is not carried out a priori, or by reflection on the nature of Being quâ Being, or anything of that sort. (Quine himself does not much use the word “metaphysics”. He puts forward views on metaphysical topics—such as ontology, time, and abstract objects—but within the confines of his naturalism.)