Grounding and Determination


Grounding and determination
philipp.blum@philosophie.ch


Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation ("Fundamentality and Perspectivality", 101115-135419), eidos, the Centre for Metaphysics at the University of Geneva, organises a graduate course consisting of five workshops. The aim of the workshops is to give Swiss philosophers the opportunity to discuss some issues of recent controversy with some of the best international philosophers in the field.

Students participating in the closely connected graduate seminar "How Things Are" are especially welcome to attend.

The workshops take place at the University of Geneva and are open to anyone interested. To faciliate organisation, please tell me what meals you want to attend at least one week in advance (see below).

The workshops are open to everyone. No registration fees.

Geneva, March 4 and 5. The conference starts on the morning of Friday, the 4th, and ends on the evening of Saturday, the 5th of March.

Speakers (confirmed): Stephan Leuenberger, Kelly Trogdon, Jacek Brzozowski.

Programme (click here for a print-out):

  • Thursday dinner: we are meeting at 20h15 at the Café L'Ivresse, and eating at 9 at the Milan, 9 rue Chaponnière.
  • Friday (SO 06, 5 rue de St. Ours, ground floor)
    • 10-11.30: Kelly Trogdon, Grounding: Necessary or Contingent?
    • 11.45-12.45: Discussion of de Rosset's grounding explanation (animated by Stephan Leuenberger)
    • lunch at the St. Jean, 4 rue du Vieux-Billard
    • 14.15-15.45: Jacek Brzozowski, TBA
    • 16.15-17.45: Philipp Keller, Lesser Entities
    • 18.15-20: talk @ PhilEAs, Peter van Inwagen, Causation and the Mental (B 105)
    • dinner with the PhilEAs people, place TBD
  • Saturday (L 208, 2, rue de Candolle)
    • 10-11.30: Stephan Leuenberger, Full and Partial Grounding
    • 11.45-12.45: Discussion of Sider (ch.1-6) (animated by Kelly Trogdon and Philipp Keller)
    • lunch at the Remors, Place du Cirque 3
    • 14.15-15.15: Discussion of Sider on Q & As(ch. 7) (animated by Jacek Brzozowski)
    • 15.30-16.30: Discussion of Sider on Fine and Schaffer on grounding (ch. 8) (animated by Kelly Trogdon)
    • 17-18.30: round table / open discussion (animated by Philipp Keller)
    • 19 dinner at the Bain des Pâquis

Readings:

  • Kelly Trogdon, "The Non-Transitivity of Metaphysical Explanation"
  • Kelly Trogdon, "Grounding -- Necessary or Contingent"
  • Stephan Leuenberger, "Grounding and Necessity"
  • Ted Sider, Writing the Book of the World
  • Louis deRosset, What is the Grounding Problem, No Free Lunch, Grounding Explanations
  • Paul Audi, "A Clarification and Defense of the Notion of Grounding"