Janus-Faced Grounding

A common view in the metaphysics of ground is that all grounding facts are grounded. This generates an infinite regress of ever more grounding of grounding facts, but most grounding theorists take the regress to be harmless. However, in this paper, I argue that the regress is in fact vicious, theref...

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Main Author: Christopher Fruge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Michigan Publishing 2023-11-01
Series:Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy
Online Access:https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/4664/
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author Christopher Fruge
author_facet Christopher Fruge
author_sort Christopher Fruge
collection DOAJ
description A common view in the metaphysics of ground is that all grounding facts are grounded. This generates an infinite regress of ever more grounding of grounding facts, but most grounding theorists take the regress to be harmless. However, in this paper, I argue that the regress is in fact vicious, therefore some grounding facts are ungrounded. Since the regress appears to fall out of two plausible principles of fundamentality, I offer a new interpretation of them that allows for ungrounded grounding facts.
format Article
id doaj-art-7c5cbbc1738844db9c5efbd09adc441b
institution DOAJ
issn 2330-4014
language English
publishDate 2023-11-01
publisher Michigan Publishing
record_format Article
series Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy
spelling doaj-art-7c5cbbc1738844db9c5efbd09adc441b2025-08-20T02:43:43ZengMichigan PublishingErgo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy2330-40142023-11-0110010.3998/ergo.4664Janus-Faced GroundingChristopher Fruge0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6001-0241St John's College, University of OxfordA common view in the metaphysics of ground is that all grounding facts are grounded. This generates an infinite regress of ever more grounding of grounding facts, but most grounding theorists take the regress to be harmless. However, in this paper, I argue that the regress is in fact vicious, therefore some grounding facts are ungrounded. Since the regress appears to fall out of two plausible principles of fundamentality, I offer a new interpretation of them that allows for ungrounded grounding facts.https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/4664/
spellingShingle Christopher Fruge
Janus-Faced Grounding
Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy
title Janus-Faced Grounding
title_full Janus-Faced Grounding
title_fullStr Janus-Faced Grounding
title_full_unstemmed Janus-Faced Grounding
title_short Janus-Faced Grounding
title_sort janus faced grounding
url https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/4664/
work_keys_str_mv AT christopherfruge janusfacedgrounding