Higher-Order Metaphysics of Ground

The last decades have seen two paradigm shifts in metaphysics. One concerns explanation and has resulted in the rehabilitation of metaphysical or grounding explanations. The other concerns quantification and has resulted in the rehabilitation of higher-order quantification as a useful tool in formulating metaphysical theories. This special issue focusses on a natural point of contact between these two developments: the higher-order metaphysics of ground. It collects papers by philosophers working on ground and/or on higher-order metaphysics which explore: (i) the potential of higher-order resources to elucidate the notion and workings of ground (and related phenomena), (ii) the potential of ground-theoretic resources to shed light on the world view underpinning higher-order approaches to metaphysics.

Possible topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• The prospects of and challenges to theories of ground formulated in higher-order languages.

• The use of higher-order resources to attain a better understanding of and/or solutions to the paradoxes and puzzles of ground.

• The granularity of the relata of ground, e.g., propositions or facts, in a higher-order setting.

• Generalized identities/higher-order identifications (‘To be F (just) is to be G’), their connection to ground and their recent application across metaphysics.

• Connections between ground and other notions recently studied within a higher-order framework, such as modality, essence, fundamentality, and genericity.

Authors are asked to prepare their manuscripts according to the journal’s standard Submission Guidelines to Authors. When uploading your paper, please be sure to select “S.I.: Higher-Order Metaphysics of Ground” in the drop-down menu of “Article Type”.

Please submit your paper by April 30, 2024 via Philosophical Studies’ Online Manuscript Submission System Editorial Manager®. All papers will undergo standard review procedures (double-blind refereeing) and, when accepted, they will be made available as online first publications until final publication.

This Special issue/Collection will bring higher citations and visibility to your paper rather than regular papers and attract more relevant readership due to its scope. The journal is indexed in the Web of Science and has currently an IF of 1.300 and CiteScore of 2.7.

For questions, please contact the guest editor for this issue Lukas Skiba. Please note that paper submissions via email are not accepted.