Essence - Argumenta - Journal of Analytic Philosophy https://www.argumenta.org Journal of Analytic Philosophy Thu, 05 Dec 2024 18:15:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 Essence and Knowledge [Special Issue] https://www.argumenta.org/article/essence-and-knowledge-special-issue/ Sun, 01 Dec 2024 22:18:30 +0000 https://www.argumenta.org/?post_type=article&p=2362 In this paper I will defend the thesis that the essence of something just is a set of cognitively significant properties with a certain modal profile. More precisely, an essential property of x is a necessary property of x which constitutes a significant source of knowledge about x. And the essence of x is a […]

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]]> The Pragmatics of Metaphysics Explanation: An Epistemology of Grounding [Special Issue] https://www.argumenta.org/article/the-pragmatics-of-metaphysics-explanation-an-epistemology-of-grounding-special-issue/ Sun, 01 Dec 2024 22:08:41 +0000 https://www.argumenta.org/?post_type=article&p=2358 There is a voluminous and growing literature on grounding. However, the literature on the epistemology of grounding is relatively sparse. There are numerous contributions to the literature addressing questions about the nature of grounding. Is grounding irreflexive? Asymmetric? Transitive? Is grounding well-founded? Is grounding properly expressed as a relation or as an operator? Does grounding […]

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]]> Laws of Metaphysics for Essentialists [Special Issue] https://www.argumenta.org/article/laws-of-metaphysics-for-essentialists-special-issue/ Sun, 01 Dec 2024 21:47:44 +0000 https://www.argumenta.org/?post_type=article&p=2350 This paper discusses two interesting, related questions at the interface of metaphysics and philosophy of science. They are both linked to the idea that there is an important analogy—or more than just an analogy—between scientific explanations that involve causal laws or laws of nature (I use these notions synonymously), and metaphysical explanations that involve laws […]

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]]> Relativized Essentialism about Modalities [Special Issue] https://www.argumenta.org/article/relativized-essentialism-about-modalities-special-issue/ Mon, 25 Jul 2022 15:21:51 +0000 https://www.argumenta.org/?post_type=article&p=1711 The last few decades have witnessed a revival of essentialism in metaphysics—with essence understood in the Aristotelian, absolute sense. One main way in which essence has been put to work is as a source of modality (see e.g. Fine 1994; Lowe 2008; Hale 2013). On what I call absolutist essentialism about modality (AE), the metaphysical […]

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]]> Essence, Necessity, and Non-Generative Metaphysical Explanation [Special Issue] https://www.argumenta.org/article/essence-necessity-and-non-generative-metaphysical-explanation-special-issue/ Mon, 25 Jul 2022 15:16:56 +0000 https://www.argumenta.org/?post_type=article&p=1709 According to Finean essentialists, essence is the metaphysical source or ground or explanation of metaphysical necessity. Fineans hold that metaphysically necessary facts are metaphysically explained by facts about essence. Recently, there has been a wave of criticism against Finean essentialism. According to Casullo (2020), Leech (2018, 2021), Mackie (2020), Noonan (2018) and Romero (2019) essences […]

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]]> Logical Essence [Special Issue] https://www.argumenta.org/article/logical-essence-special-issue/ Mon, 25 Jul 2022 15:12:26 +0000 https://www.argumenta.org/?post_type=article&p=1707 An increasingly popular view at the intersection of logic and metaphysics is that logical necessities have their source in the essences of logical entities. On such a view, metaphysical necessity has its source in the essences or natures of things, and logical necessity is a restriction of metaphysical necessity. But logical and metaphysical necessity are, […]

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