Aristotelian ontological priority and metaphysical grounding / Bryan C. Reece

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reece, Bryan, 1985- author.

Series:

Cambridge elements. Elements in ancient philosophy

Cambridge elements. Elements in ancient philosophy, 2631-4118

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aristotle.

Grounding (Philosophy).

Metaphysics.

Ontology.

Priority (Philosophy).

metaphysics.

ontology (metaphysics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"Many think that reality is structured such that some beings are more fundamental than others and characterize this structure in terms of “grounding.” Grounding is typically regarded as explanatory and as exhibiting certain order-theoretic properties: asymmetry, irreflexivity, and transitivity. Aristotle's notion of ontological priority, which inspired discussions of grounding, also has these features. This Element clarifies Aristotle's discussions of ontological priority, explores how it relates to other kinds of priority, and identifies important connections to metaphysical grounding. Aristotle provides numerous examples that appear to impugn ontological priority's order-theoretic coherence. This is Aristotle's “Priority Problem.” But Aristotle has an independently motivated solution that eliminates the threat from each of the apparently problematic examples and explains why such examples are ubiquitous. The Element argues that a ground-theoretic analog of Aristotle's solution to the Priority Problem addresses recent challenges to grounding"-- Cambridge Core

Contents:

Challenges to grounding as inducing a strict partial order

Aristotelian ontological priority

Aristotle’s answer to the priority problem

An Aristotelian vindication of grounding as inducing a strict partial order

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed May 13, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Reece, Bryan, 1985- Aristotelian ontological priority and metaphysical grounding

ISBN:

9781009433617

100943361X

OCLC:

1570890197

Publisher Number:

CIPO000331814

Access Restriction:

Some versions Open access versions available from some providers open access