Realism promised an objective view of the world. While postmodernism taught us to distrust objective truth and all grand narratives. Today however, there is a growing sense that neither realism nor postmodernism are viable accounts of the world. The skepticism and deconstruction of postmodernity undermines everything including itself, while the certainty of traditional realism feels increasingly implausible in a world awash with incompatible perspectives. Into this gap a new outlook has emerged: metamodernism. Its proponents claim to combine irony and sincerity, truth and commitment. Metamodernists act as if truth matters while acknowledging we rely on models rather than absolutes, perhaps echoing Stephen Hawking's adoption later in his life of 'model-dependent realism'.

Should we embrace metamodernism as a way out of the paralysing scepticism of postmodernity and the naivety of traditional realism? Does it provide an explanation for truth, knowledge and science?  Or is it an illusory house of cards that risks the choas of unconstrained relativism?