Carla Peri
University of Padua
According to the CORR principle of grounding, a fact is ungrounded only if it is fundamental, and a fact is fundamental just if it involves only fundamental entities (e.g., individuals). I argue that individuation facts—expressing that, for any individual x, x is the very individual it is, or [Ind(x)]—challenge the CORR principle of grounding. I contend that such facts are ungrounded. Although individuation facts appear to call for a principle of individuation—and thus a metaphysical explanation, which is typically understood in terms of grounding, which supports a ground-theoretic account of individuation, I argue that no plausible ground can be provided for these facts. There are both negative and positive reasons for this claim. On the one hand, several candidate grounds—qualitative properties, haecceities, material constitution, and even zero-grounding—fail either by presupposing what they aim to explain, violating grounding’s asymmetry, or lacking explanatory force.
On the other hand, individuation facts must obtain universally and constitutively: any entity must already be individuated prior to entering into even the simplest relations, such as self-identity. If individuation facts are ungrounded, given that most individuals are not fundamental, individuation facts offer a counterexample to CORR. So, I propose a distinction between ungrounded fundamental facts (ungrounded and involving solely fundamental entities) and ungrounded derivative facts (ungrounded but involving derivative entities). Individuation facts fall into the latter category. I propose a refined principle—CORR*—which restricts CORR to only those facts that are both ungrounded and fundamental. This adjustment preserves the layered structure of reality and allows ungrounded brute facts to play a legitimate explanatory role. Individuation, then, emerges as a key case study for assessing the scope and limits of grounding-based metaphysical theorizing.
Chair: Jacopo Giraldo
Time: 05 September, 14:00-14:30
Location: HS E.002
SOPhiA 2026 