Leiden University Student Repository

Koot, Malte (2022)

Middle Ground: The Case for Priority Midlingism

Bachelor thesis | Filosofie (BA)

Theories of grounding about material objects often take either (1) the small to ground the large, or (2) the large to ground the small. For the first theory, called priority atomism, the smallest things – primitives, elementary particles, etcetera – are fundamental. For the second theory, called priority monism, the biggest thing – the universal object, the cosmos, etcetera – is fundamental. I contend, however, that a third option is left largely unexamined. What if the objects in the middle are fundamental? This third theory, a kind of priority midlingism, takes the middle to ground both the large and the small. In this paper, I will argue that priority midlingism is at least plausible, and should be taken seriously.

Metaphysics

Grounding

Fundamentality

Author

Koot, Malte

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Theoretische filosofie

Supervisors

Lipman, M.A.

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en