Articles
- Grounding: De Re and De Dicto (The Philosophical Quarterly, forthcoming)
In answer to a recent article by Martin Glazier, I explore the distinction between de re and de dicto readings of dependence claims formulated by means of grounding. Open access:
https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqac054
- No Choice for Incompatibilism (Thought: A Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming)
I examine one of van Inwagen’s formulations of the Consequence Argument once we understand the notion of an agent’s having a choice about a proposition in explanatory terms. Open access:
https://doi.org/10.5840/tht2022924
- States-of-affairs and Fundamentality (with B. Schnieder) (Philosophia, forthcoming):
A discussion piece on Meinertsen’s book ‘Metaphysics of States-of-affairs’ (Springer, 2018).
- Explaining Coincidences (Synthese, forthcoming)
I criticize two recent accounts of coincidences and sketch an alternative that escapes the worries raised and is more general, since it might cover coincidences and non-coincidences involving non-physical facts. Open Access:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-021-03445-5
- Ingarden on the Varieties of Dependence (European Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming)
The four variants of dependence presented by Roman Ingarden in his Controversy over the Existence of the World (1964) are formulated precisely and compared to contemporary views. Open Access:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ejop.12728
- A Ground-theoretical Modal Definition of Essence (Analysis, forthcoming)
I present a definition of constitutive essentialist truths in terms of necessity and ontological dependence, where it is suggested that the latter notion should be understood in terms of ground. https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/anab004
- The Indeterminacy of the Distinction Between Objects and Ways of Being (Erkenntnis, forthcoming)
An argument based on so-called permutation arguments, championed by Quine, Putnam and Wallace, is presented to show that the truth-conditions of predicational sentences leave unsettled what should count as an object and as a way for an object to be. Open Access:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10670-020-00333-1
- Grounding Grounds Necessity (Analysis, 2020)
A novel account of the grounds of the necessity of necessary truths is developed based on extensions of available ideas in the logic of ground. https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/anz083
- The Ground of All Negative Existential Truths (Crítica, Special Issue, 2020)
I criticize the usual account of the grounds for negative existential truths in terms of a totality truth concerning every existent and defend an alternative account that makes use of a many-many grounding operator. Open Access:
http://critica.filosoficas.unam.mx/index.php/critica/article/view/1177
- How (not) to Argue Against Brute Fundamentalism (Dialectica, 2019)
I reply to Mckenzie’s ‘Against Brute Fundamentalism’ (2017), in which she tried to provide a counterexample to the thesis that fundamental truths cannot be explained. https://doi.org/10.1111/1746-8361.12277
Under Review/In Progress (titles modified)
- A Truthmaker Semantics for Propositional Modal Logic S5
A truthmaker semantics for propositional modal logic S5 is provided, proved sound and complete, and consequences are drawn pertaining to what the grounds of necessities are.
- Simpler Representational Ground
I present a definition of full ground in terms of partial grounds in Fine’s truth-maker semantics which allows for a simpler account of representational grounds.
- In defense of mathematical explanation (with B. Schnieder)
We defend but also critically discuss non-causal grounding explanations in mathematics.
- Why Bolzano does not need states-of-affairs (with B. Schnieder)
- Perspectivalism about metaphysical modality
I defend a novel solution to Salmon’s puzzle of modal tolerance that relies on the concept of a modal perspective.
- Laws in Explanation
I provide two arguments against the claim that laws are reasons why alongside causes and grounds, one of which is attributable to Bolzano.
- Kantian Modality
(Please contact me for drafts.)
Books
- Reasons Why Not: On the Positive Grounds of Negative Truths. Springer/Metzler Verlag, 2019.
A revised version of my PhD Thesis. https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783476051493
- The Possibilities of Ground (in prep.)
A monograph where I map and defend solutions to the main issues relating metaphysical modality and ground, including some of my published articles and a chapter tracing the history of the relation between both notions.
Chapters
- (with B. Schnieder): Die Ontologie von Ursachen und Gründen. In Urbich, Jan & Zimmer, Jörg. Handbuch Ontologie. Springer/Metzler Verlag, pp. 409-417. https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783476046376#
- (with B.Schnieder): Truth-bearers in the Austro-german tradition. (In prep.)
julioderizzo.com 