Fundamentality

The phrase ‘in virtue of’ is a mainstay of metaphysical discourse. In recent years, many philosophers have argued that we should understand this phrase, as metaphysicians use it, in terms of a concept of metaphysical dependence called ‘grounding’.This dissertation explores a ran…

In modern physics, almost everything about the material constituents of the world (such as particles) can be inferred from claims about the symmetries of the world. For example, recent breakthroughs in particle physics are almost entirely due to claims about symmetries. This giv…

Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence. Philosophers have used this principle in arguments for the existence of something ontologically fundamental, an ultimate ground of being, such as God. But if everything has an explanation of its existence, so, too, does…