The Routledge Handbook of Metaphysical Grounding (Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy)

Some of philosophy’s biggest questions, both historically and today, are in-virtue-of questions: In virtue of what is an action right or wrong? In virtue of what am I the same person my mother bore? In virtue of what is an artwork beautiful? Philosophers attempt to answer many of these types of in-virtue-of questions, but philosophers are also increasingly focusing on what an in-virtue-of question is in the first place. Many assume, at least as a working hypothesis, that in-virtue-of questions involve a distinctively metaphysical kind of determinative explanation called “ground.” This Handbook surveys the state of the art on ground as well as its connections and applications to other topics. The central issues of ground are discussed in 37 chapters, all written exclusively for this volume by a wide range of leading experts. The chapters are organized into the following sections: I. History II. Explanation and Determination III. Logic and Structure IV. Connections V. Applications Introductions at the start of each section provide an overview of the section’s contents, and a list of Related Topics at the end of each chapter points readers to other germane areas throughout the volume. The resulting volume is accessible enough for advanced students and informative enough for researchers. It is essential reading for anyone hoping to get clearer on what the biggest questions of philosophy are really asking. Cover 1 Half Title 4 Series 5 Title 6 Copyright 7 Dedication 8 Contents 10 Notes on Contributors 14 Acknowledgments 18 Introduction 20 Part I History 34 Introduction 36 1 Ancient 39 2 Aristotelian Demonstration 52 3 Medieval and Early Modern 68 4 Principle of Sufficient Reason 82 5 Bolzano 95 6 Austro-German Phenomenologists 109 Part II Explanation and Determination 122 Introduction 124 7 Dependence 126 8 Explanation 140 9 Meta-Ground 152 10 Necessity 167 11 Skeptical Doubts 183 12 Anti-Skeptical Rejoinders 199 13 Varieties 213 Part III Logic and Structure 228 Introduction 230 14 Logics 232 15 Granularity 247 16 Infinite Descent 263 17 Strict Partial Order 278 18 Puzzles 290 Part IV Connections 302 Introduction 304 19 Analyticity 307 20 Cause 319 21 Emergence 331 22 Essence 343 23 Fundamentality 355 24 Modality 367 25 Ontology 380 26 Realism 394 27 Structure 406 28 Truthmaking 415 Part V Applications 428 Introduction 430 29 Identity 432 30 Laws of Metaphysics 444 31 Laws of Nature 456 32 Logic 468 33 Mind 479 34 Normativity 491 35 Physicalism 503 36 Semantics 520 37 Social Entities 529 The Essential Glossary of Ground 540 Index 542