> [!definition]
> **Supervenience** · *Definition*
>
> One range of facts is fixed by another: A *supervenes on* B when there can be no difference in A without some difference in B.

The relation is not symmetric, but neither is it asymmetric: as defined it is reflexive and transitive, so the one-way dependence belongs to the canonical case rather than to the operator itself. The names track the morphology: the *supervenient* (A) sits on top, the *subvenient* (B) sits beneath. A varies only as B varies; B may vary without A varying. The textbook case is the mental supervening on the physical: two physically identical configurations cannot differ in their mental states, but the physical can vary in ways the mental does not track.


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← [1.5.3 Inference](<1.5.3 Inference.md>) | [1.5.5 Ground and Dependence](<1.5.5 Ground and Dependence.md>) →
