THe debate Michael Dummett instigated on how best to prosecute issues in metaphysics via arguements in the philosophy of language remains one of the central issues in contemporary analytic philosophy and impacts on other writers such as Quine, Putnam, and Davidson. The text aims to provide a systematic exposition of Dummett's contribution to contemporary philosophy, focusing on his discussion of realism. The author also deals with the nature of meaning and understanding and discusses two challenges for the anti-realist: the past and mathematics.