Krämer, S. and Roski, S. (2017) Difference-making grounds. Philosophical Studies, 174(5), pp. 1191-1215. (doi: 10.1007/s11098-016-0749-5)
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Abstract
We define a notion of difference-making for partial grounds of a fact in rough analogy to existing notions of difference-making for causes of an event. Using orthodox assumptions about ground, we show that it induces a non-trivial division with examples of partial grounds on both sides. We then demonstrate the theoretical fruitfulness of the notion by applying it to the analysis of a certain kind of putative counter-example to the transitivity of ground recently described by Jonathan Schaffer. First, we show that our conceptual apparatus of difference-making enables us to give a much clearer description than Schaffer does of what makes the relevant instances of transitivity appear problematic. Second, we suggest that difference-making is best seen as a mark of good grounding-based explanations rather than a necessary condition on grounding, and argue that this enables us to deal with the counter-example in a satisfactory way. Along the way, we show that Schaffer's own proposal for salvaging a form of transitivity by moving to a contrastive conception of ground is unsuccessful. We conclude by sketching some natural strategies for extending our proposal to a more comprehensive account of grounding-based explanations.
| Item Type: | Articles |
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| Additional Information: | Stephan Krämer’s work on this paper has been funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant KR 4516/1-1); Stefan Roski’s work has been funded by the Behörde für Wissenschaft und Forschung Hamburg (Grant: Welt der Gründe). Both authors gratefully acknowledge the support. |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Kraemer, Dr Stephan |
| Authors: | Krämer, S., and Roski, S. |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BC Logic |
| College/School: | College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Philosophy |
| Journal Name: | Philosophical Studies |
| Publisher: | Springer |
| ISSN: | 0031-8116 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1573-0883 |
| Published Online: | 30 July 2016 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media |
| First Published: | First published in Philosophical Studies 174(5): 1191-1215 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy |
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