ARISTIDES MOREIRA FILHO

The objective of this work is to defend the importance of metaphysics for the development of scientific theories. Metaphysical theories, although not testable, are significant and contribute to the scientist's choice of problems to be investigated and solved. However, the importance of metaphysics goes beyond the merely speculative character, as metaphysical theories can be critically analyzed and contribute to the entire process of science development. There is a two-way street in the relationship between science and metaphysics: metaphysics provides science with its research programs, above all, in moments of greatest tension; science, in its turn, in its moments of consolidation influences metaphysics.