transitive. This allows for chains of grounding. Schaffer asserts that all chains of grounding must terminate in a fundamental entity in his "well-foundedness" assumption. Priority Monism Schaffer is perhaps most well-known for his arguments in favor of Priority Monism'. Priority Monism is a form of Monism that claims that while very many entities exist, only one is fundamental. For Schaffer, this entity is the cosmos. Schaffer's position is motivated by his belief that the whole universe may be an entangled system and thus have properties that are not reducible to the universe's parts. "Monism: The Priority of the Whole" also contains his Argument from Gunk, according to which mereological atoms cannot be fundamental due to the possibility of infinitely divisible matter. References 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers Rutgers University alumni Analytic philosophers 1970 births Metaphysicians Living people Distinguished professors of philosophy Distinguished professors in the United States Humboldt Research Award recipients Rutgers University faculty Kenyon College alumni Epistemologists Philosophers of mind Philosophers of language