Department of History and Philosophy of Science will hold the 43rd Tokyo Colloquium of Cognitive Philosophy. Everyone is welcome.

Date & Time: October 16th (Wed), 2013, 18:30-20:30
Venue: the 14th Bulding, Room 710 on the 7th floor, Komaba Campus

Presenter: Naoaki Kitamura (Keio University)
Title: Resolving the Paradoxes of Grounding

Abstract:

A non-causal, constitutive relation of determination called grounding has become a major concern of metaphysics. Much work has been done on the nature of grounding and what role the notion of ground can play in metaphysical investigations. Recently K. Fine has shown that a common logical principle of grounding (together with standard logical assumptions) is inconsistent with some other apparently plausible principles of grounding. In this talk, I will explore the way of resolving the paradoxes by examining a (set of) ground-theoretical assumption(s) that Fine does not call into question. First, I will focus on a particular form of paradox and provide a diagnosis of where the argument for the inconsistency in question goes wrong. Then, I will show how the consideration in that particular case generalizes to the other forms of paradoxes. The discussion suggests a way to resolve all the forms of paradoxes without abandoning any logical assumptions.