Grounding is necessary and contingent

Journal Article (Journal Article)

Grounding is necessary just in case: if P grounds Q, then necessarily: if P, then Q. Many accept this principle. Others propose counterexamples. Instead of straightforwardly arguing for, or against, necessity, I explain the sense in which grounding is necessary and contingent. I argue that there are two kinds of grounding: what-grounding (which tells us what it is for things to be the case) and why-grounding (which tells us why things are the case), where the former kind is necessary while the latter is contingent.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Richardson, K

Published Date

  • January 1, 2021

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 64 / 4

Start / End Page

  • 453 - 480

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1502-3923

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0020-174X

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1080/0020174X.2019.1612777

Citation Source

  • Scopus