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Single Idea 14262

[filed under theme 7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 1. Grounding / a. Nature of grounding ]

Full Idea

The general formal principles of grounding are Transitivity (A«B, B«C/A«C: if A helps ground B and B helps C, then A helps C), Irreflexivity (A«A/absurd: A can't ground itself) and Factivity (A«B/A; A«/B: for grounding both A and B must be the case).

Clarification

A«B means 'A helps ground B' (Fine uses a slightly different symbol)

Gist of Idea

Formal grounding needs transitivity of grounding, no self-grounding, and the existence of both parties

Source

Kit Fine (Some Puzzles of Ground [2010], 4)

Book Ref

-: 'Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic' [-], p.100


The 25 ideas with the same theme [how we should understand the grounding relation]:

Men say they prefer order, not realising that we imagine the order [Spinoza]
The ground of a thing is not another thing, but the first thing's substance or rational concept [Hegel, by Houlgate]
Creation produced a network or web of determinations [Weil]
2+2=4 is necessary if it is snowing, but not true in virtue of the fact that it is snowing [Fine,K]
If you say one thing causes another, that leaves open that the 'other' has its own distinct reality [Fine,K]
An immediate ground is the next lower level, which gives the concept of a hierarchy [Fine,K]
'Strict' ground moves down the explanations, but 'weak' ground can move sideways [Fine,K]
We learn grounding from what is grounded, not what does the grounding [Fine,K]
If you make 'grounding' fundamental, you have to mention some non-fundamental notions [Sider on Fine,K]
Something is grounded when it holds, and is explained, and necessitated by something else [Fine,K, by Sider]
Formal grounding needs transitivity of grounding, no self-grounding, and the existence of both parties [Fine,K]
Things could be true 'in virtue of' others as relations between truths, or between truths and items [Rosen]
Different types of 'grounding' seem to have no more than a family resemblance relation [MacBride]
Which has priority - 'grounding' or 'truth-making'? [MacBride]
If ground is transitive and irreflexive, it has a strict partial ordering, giving structure [Schaffer,J]
As causation links across time, grounding links the world across levels [Schaffer,J]
Grounding is unanalysable and primitive, and is the basic structuring concept in metaphysics [Schaffer,J]
Priority was a major topic of dispute for scholastics [Pasnau]
Avoid 'in virtue of' for grounding, since it might imply a reflexive relation such as identity [Audi,P]
Ground relations depend on the properties [Audi,P]
A ball's being spherical non-causally determines its power to roll [Audi,P]
Ground is irreflexive, asymmetric, transitive, non-monotonic etc. [Audi,P]
The best critique of grounding says it is actually either identity or elimination [Audi,P]
Is existential dependence by grounding, or do grounding claims arise from existential dependence? [Correia/Schnieder]
Grounding is intended as a relation that fits dependences between things [Baron/Miller]