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Robinbild

Robin Stenwall

Senior lecturer

Robinbild

Truth, Grounding & Dependence

Author

  • Robin Stenwall

Summary, in English

The subjects of this thesis are (as indicated by the title) truth, grounding and dependence. The thesis consists of an introduction and five free-standing essays. The purpose of the introduction is not merely to summarize the papers, but to provide a general background to the discussions in the essays. The introduction is divided into four chapters, each of which splits into a number of sections and/or subsections. Chapter 1. concerns the notion of ontological dependence. I start by making a distinction between two different types of ontological dependence and discuss how well these notions deal with a number of philosophical issues. I then go on to consider the role that ontological dependence plays in hierarchies of natural kinds. In Chapter 2., I discuss a related notion, namely that of grounding. I sketch the theoretical framework by specifying the logical form of grounding statements and a set of structural principles that govern grounding. The chapter ends with a brief discussion on some philosophical applications of grounding. Chapter 3. deals with the notion of truthmaking and how it squares with the grounding framework developed in the previous chapter. I present the reader with the so-called Truthmaker Principle, and provide answers to a number of questions that it raises. The fourth and final chapter summarizes the five papers.



The six essays are divided into three categories. Paper I deals with the notion of ontological dependence in hierarchies of natural kinds. Paper II concerns the notion of grounding and resemblance orderings among powers. Papers III, IV and V discuss various aspects of truthmaker theory.

Department/s

  • Theoretical Philosophy

Publishing year

2015

Language

English

Document type

Dissertation

Publisher

Lund University

Topic

  • Philosophy

Keywords

  • Truthmaking
  • Grounding
  • Ontological dependence
  • Propositions
  • Necessitarianism
  • Natural kinds.

Status

Published

Supervisor

  • Johannes Persson

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 978-91-87833-31-1

Defence date

28 May 2015

Defence time

10:00

Defence place

Sal B237, LUX, Helgonavägen 3, Lund

Opponent

  • Helen Beebee (Professor)