Derivativeness and Priority

It is prima facie an attractive idea that some entities are derivative with respect to others: for instance, mereological wholes may be considered derivative with respect to their parts or vice versa, and directions may (under an abstractionist conception) be considered derivative with respect to straight lines. If an entity is derivative with respect to another, the latter might be regarded as ‘ontologically prior’ to the former. But is there a single general sense of ‘derivative’? And how does derivativeness relate to other notions of priority, metaphysical and otherwise? Our aim in this workshop will be to discuss potential answers to these and similar questions.

Program:

Monday, September 9

11:00am Kelly Trogdon (Virginia Tech): ‘Should Explanation Be a Guide to Ground?’ (with Alexander Skiles, MIT/Gothenburg)

12:15pm Lunch break: Trattoria Galleria (Via G. Carducci 4)

02:00pm David Mark Kovacs (Tel Aviv): ‘Why the New Semantic Circularity Objection to Humean Laws Collapses into the Old Metaphysical One’

03:30pm Alessandro Torza (UNAM): ‘The Metametaphysics of Quantum Indeterminacy’

07:30pm Dinner at Bottegone del vino (Via M. Magatti 3)

Tuesday, September 10

09:30am Tuomas Tahko (Bristol): ‘Sparse Essentialism’

11:00am Nathan Wildman (Tilburg): ‘Necessary Fundamentals?’

12:15pm Lunch at Trattoria Galleria (Via G. Carducci 4)

02:00pm Stephan Leuenberger (Glasgow): ‘Derivative Truths and Hypertemporal Priority’

The workshop has two venues: Room 354 in the main building on September 9, and room 013 in the computer science building (located behind the main building) on September 10. These are both on USI's main campus at Via Buffi 13. A map of the campus can be found here.

Registration is free, but please contact jan.plate@gmail.com to register.