Derivativeness and Priority

It is prima facie an attractive idea that some entities are derivative with respect to others: for instance, mereological wholes may be considered derivative with respect to their parts or vice versa, and directions may (under an abstractionist conception) be considered derivative with respect to straight lines. If an entity is derivative with respect to another, the latter might be regarded as ‘ontologically prior’ to the former. But is there a single general sense of ‘derivative’? And how does derivativeness relate to other notions of priority, metaphysical and otherwise? Our aim in this workshop will be to discuss potential answers to these and similar questions.