Grounding, Explanation, and the Tasks of Metaphysics

Abstract Thinking about metaphysical problems in terms of grounding has its uses, but those uses are limited. This chapter argues against attempts to see issues of grounding as having a central and organizing role in metaphysical inquiry. After arguing that grounding does some useful work, this chapter will argue that grounding is neither the central tool for understanding explanation in metaphysics nor does it define the subject matter of metaphysics. Instead, grounding tracks only some of the metaphysical explanations we should be looking for, and is only one among many of the topics metaphysics aims to address.