Choice Group by Giacomo Giannini (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf): ‘Essential Dependence is not Fundamentality Inducing’

Abstract: It is commonly thought that there is a very tight connection between essence, metaphysical dependence, and fundamentality. This often results in the endorsement of a principle linking Essence To Dependence (Fine 1994; Lowe 2006; Correia 2005; Koslicki 2012; Tahko and Lowe 2020)

(ETD) x essentially depends on y iff y appears in x’s essence.

And a principle linking Dependence To Fundamentality (Jaag 2014, Romero 2019, Wang 2019, Giannotti 2021) which can come in a stronger or weaker flavour:

(DTFS) If x essentially depends on y, then x is less fundamental than y.

(DTFW) If x essentially depends on y, then x is not more fundamental than y.

In this talk, I will argue against the second principle: I’ll claim that essential dependence is not fundamentality inducing, i.e. it does not imply facts about the relative fundamentality of the dependent and the dependee.

I will offer four arguments against DTF.

Giacomo Giannini is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf.

This event will take place in person on LSE’s campus. However, those unable to attend in person will have the option of taking part online.

To join online just follow these instructions:

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• Zoom link for this for this meeting: https://lse.zoom.us/j/6613924533 

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