ABSTRACT

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.

chapter |14 pages

Introduction

part I|87 pages

History

chapter |3 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|13 pages

Ancient

chapter 2|16 pages

Aristotelian Demonstration

chapter 3|14 pages

Medieval and Early Modern

chapter 4|13 pages

Principle of Sufficient Reason

chapter 5|14 pages

Bolzano

chapter 6|12 pages

Austro-German Phenomenologists

part II|106 pages

Explanation and Determination

chapter |2 pages

Introduction

chapter 7|14 pages

Dependence

chapter 8|12 pages

Explanation

chapter 9|15 pages

Meta-Ground

chapter 10|16 pages

Necessity

chapter 11|16 pages

Skeptical Doubts

chapter 12|14 pages

Anti-Skeptical Rejoinders

chapter 13|15 pages

Varieties

part III|74 pages

Logic and Structure

chapter |2 pages

Introduction

chapter 14|15 pages

Logics

chapter 15|16 pages

Granularity

chapter 16|15 pages

Infinite Descent

chapter 17|12 pages

Strict Partial Order

chapter 18|12 pages

Puzzles

part IV|125 pages

Connections

chapter |3 pages

Introduction

chapter 19|12 pages

Analyticity

chapter 20|12 pages

Cause

chapter 21|12 pages

Emergence

chapter 22|12 pages

Essence

chapter 23|12 pages

Fundamentality

chapter 24|13 pages

Modality 1

chapter 25|14 pages

Ontology

chapter 26|12 pages

Realism

chapter 27|9 pages

Structure

chapter 28|12 pages

Truthmaking

part V|112 pages

Applications

chapter |2 pages

Introduction

chapter 29|12 pages

Identity

chapter 30|12 pages

Laws of Metaphysics

chapter 31|12 pages

Laws of Nature

chapter 32|11 pages

Logic

chapter 33|12 pages

Mind

chapter 34|12 pages

Normativity

chapter 35|17 pages

Physicalism

chapter 36|9 pages

Semantics

chapter 37|11 pages

Social Entities