Ontological Dependence, a Comparison between Kit Fine and E.J. Lowe
Ontological Dependence, a Comparison between Kit Fine and E.J. Lowe

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I go over the similarities and differences between two accounts of ontological dependence: Kit Fine's constitutive account and E.J.Lowe's identity-dependence. I argue that their bases are very similar, in that they rely on a coherent notion of an object's real definition, analogue with the nominal definition of a term. For both Fine and Lowe, the notion of ontological dependence is primitive and asymmetrical. The few differences between the two accounts, I argue, are implications of the difference of opinion on the matter of metaphysical neutrality: Fine is wholly for it, as opposed to Lowe that doesn't believe in it.

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