The Metaphysics of Internal Relations

Tugby, Matthew

Abstract

Roughly speaking, internal relations are those that are necessitated in some way by their relata. Throughout the twentieth century, philosophical work on internal relations ignored important distinctions between different kinds of internal relation. There have been few attempts in contemporary metaphysics to provide a systematic, fine-grained analysis of the different kinds of internal relation, and the aim of this paper is to fill this gap. This project is especially important given the recent trend for thinking that all relations are internal. The paper proposes that the source of some internal relations lies in the essences of their relata while other internal relations arise through metaphysical grounding. After identifying different kinds of essential and grounded relations, a four-category system of internal relations is presented, and it is argued that this system ‘carves nature at its joints’ vis-à-vis internal relations.

Citation

Tugby, M. (in press). The Metaphysics of Internal Relations. Journal of Philosophy,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 20, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 21, 2025
• Journal: The Journal of Philosophy
• Print ISSN: 0022-362X
• Electronic ISSN: 1939-8549
• Publisher: Journal of Philosophy
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• ISBN: 0022-362X
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3956990
• Publisher URL: https://www.pdcnet.org/collection-anonymous/browse?fp=jphil&fq=jphil/Volume/8879%7C121/8988%7CIssue:%2012/