ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I propose a solution to an almost ignored problem in metaphysics and metametaphysics: what is categorial fundamentality and non-fundamentality? My proposal builds on E. J. Lowe’s view on the issue. By means of the newcomer notion of generic identity, I can give an account of something that Lowe did not explicate: the constitution of formal ontological relations. Formal ontological relations (e.g. instantiation) are internal relations that determine ontological form and category-membership. I argue that categorial fundamentality is having membership fully determined by a simple formal ontological relation or relations jointly in an order, and categorial non-fundamentality is having membership at least partly determined by a derived formal ontological relation in an order. In contrast to Lowe, my proposal does not presuppose non-modal essentialism.
