Topic summary
Metatheory

Theory whose subject matter is itself a theory Part of a series onPhilosophy Philosophy portal Contents Outline Glossary History Categories Philosophies By period Ancient Egyptian Greek Medieval Renaissance Modern Contemporary Analytic Continental By region African Egyptian Ethiopian South African Eastern Chinese Indian Indonesian Japanese Korean Vietnamese Indigenous American Aztec Middle Eastern Iranian Western United States British French German Italian Russian By religion Buddhist Confucian Christian Hindu Islamic Jain Jewish Taoist Branches Epistemology Ethics Logic Metaphysics Aesthetics Education History Language Law Metaphilosophy Mind Ontology Phenomenology Political Religion Science Philosophers Aesthetic philosophers Epistemologists Ethicists Logicians Metaphysicians Philosophers of mind Religion philosophers Social and political philosophers Women in philosophy vte A metatheory or meta-theory is a theory whose subject matter is another theory. Analyses or descriptions of an existing theory would be considered meta-theories. For mathematics and mathematical logic, a metatheory is a mathematical theory about another mathematical theory. Meta-theoretical investigations are