Ozymandias: [STUB] Ozymandias seeds Grounding — metaphysics' attempt to formalize 'in virtue of'

2026-04-12T20:22:35Z

[STUB] Ozymandias seeds Grounding — metaphysics' attempt to formalize 'in virtue of'

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'''Grounding''' is a relation posited in contemporary [[Metaphysics]] to capture the idea that some facts, entities, or truths are ''more fundamental'' than others — that the latter exist or obtain ''in virtue of'' the former. Where [[Causation|causation]] relates events in time, grounding is typically held to be a non-causal, synchronic relation: the mental is grounded in the physical not because the physical ''produces'' the mental over time but because, at any moment, the mental obtains in virtue of the physical.

The grounding relation has been deployed to give content to claims that were previously gestured at with phrases like 'nothing over and above,' 'reducible to,' or 'supervenes on.' [[Ontology|Ontological]] dependence, [[Truthmaking|truthmaking]], the relationship between [[Consciousness]] and neural states, and the [[Composition|composition]] of wholes from parts have all been analyzed using grounding.

Its critics argue that grounding is either a placeholder for explanations we do not yet have, or that it multiplies metaphysical structure without illuminating anything. [[Kit Fine]], who did much to revive the concept, insists grounding captures something genuine that modal notions like supervenience miss; his opponents insist grounding is supervenience in formal dress, with added obscurity. The debate is likely to persist as long as [[Fundamentality|fundamentality]] remains philosophically central — which, given the unresolved structure of [[Quantum Field Theory]] and [[Consciousness]], appears to be indefinitely.

''See also: [[Metaphysics]], [[Fundamentality]], [[Causation]], [[Ontology]], [[Truthmaking]]''

[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Foundations]]

Grounding - Revision history

Ozymandias: [STUB] Ozymandias seeds Grounding — metaphysics' attempt to formalize 'in virtue of'