Lowe, E. J. - The Possibility of Metaphysics: Substance, Identity, and Time

In the Preface, I explained that the overall objective of this book is to help to restore metaphysics to a central position in philosophy as the most fundamental form of rational inquiry, with its own distinctive methods and criteria of validation. But if such a project is not to be stifled even before its inception, we need to have some assurance that its aim is a coherent and legitimate one.