Ground and Fundamentality in Plato and Aristotle

This is the first edited volume dedicated to the issues of ground and fundamentality in Plato and Aristotle. It offers new insights pertaining to certain features of ground and fundamentality that will engage with and spark debates in contemporary metaphysics.

Grounding and fundamentality are established issues in contemporary metaphysics. Ground is, roughly, a non-causal, explanatory relation of metaphysical determination whereby one entity or fact is what it is because of another entity or fact. When something grounds something else, it is said to be fundamental with respect to that other something. Contemporary scholarship has indicated that the roots of ground go back to Plato and Aristotle, but this work has largely waved away the ancients. The chapters in this volume utilize the theoretical tools from contemporary metaphysics concerning ground and fundamentality to understand in more depth the works of Plato and Aristotle. They address a wide range of issues pertaining to ground and fundamentality including skepticism about these relations, the nature of these relations, their application to gender and social issues, and their application to material explanation.

Ground and Fundamentality in Plato and Aristotle will appeal to researchers and graduate students working in ancient philosophy and metaphysics.

Author Biography

Richard Neels is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Oklahoma State University, USA. His research is focused primarily on metaphysics in ancient philosophy and its connection to contemporary issues in metaphysics. His published work has appeared in Ancient Philosophy, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, History of Philosophy Quarterly, and Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy.