ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book develops and defends the authors preferred fundamental ontology—serious essentialism—which holds that the fundamental joints in reality are constituted by primitive natures that defy reduction in terms of modal notions such as necessity and possibility. It explicates the question of fundamental mereology in light of the recent work by Jonathan Schaffer. The book critically engages what is, arguably, the predominant fundamental mereology at play in the contemporary literature, Part-Priority, in its most popular guise, Priority Microphysicalism (PM). It explores the relationship between Substantial Priority and personal ontology. The book takes up the task of defending Substantial Priority from what the author considers to be the most formidable objections.
