metatheoretische

Metatheoretische (metatheoretical) is the German adjective used to describe aspects that concern metatheory—the study of the foundations and properties of theories themselves. The term is common in philosophy, logic, mathematics, and related disciplines, where researchers distinguish between an object theory (the theory under study) and its metatheory (the analysis of that theory’s assumptions, methods, and implications).

Metatheoretische analysis typically addresses questions of consistency, completeness, soundness, decidability, and model existence. It formalizes and reasons about the meta-level: what can be proven within a theory, what models satisfy its axioms, and how different formal systems relate to each other. This level of analysis often uses its own formal language and proof techniques.

Examples include Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, which are metatheoretical results about the limits of formal systems; metatheoretische proofs of type soundness in programming languages; and analyses of linguistic theories to evaluate their assumptions and explanatory power.

Origin and usage: The term derives from meta- and Theorie/theoretisch; in German scholarship it often appears as metatheoretisch or in compounds such as metatheoretische Grundlagen. While the exact scope varies by field, the core idea remains the same: to study theories from a higher‑level perspective, examining foundations, methods, and implications rather than empirical content alone.