Metaphysical Preemption and the Problem of Perception

Abstract. 

I argue that there are cases of metaphysical preemption and overdetermination that are structurally analogous to well-known cases of causal preemption and overdetermination. In a case of metaphysical preemption, A can be a sufficient metaphysical explanation for B even though A does not metaphysically explain B in the actual world. I then turn my attention to sensory experience. I argue that the possibility of metaphysical preemption allows the naïve realist to maintain her view of perception while defending a substantive, relational account of hallucination.