 For example, according to our best explanation, the fact that my cup of coffee is hotter than your glass of iced tea is grounded in the fact that the mean molecular kinetic energy of the former is higher than that of the latter. Within Kment’s framework, this account entails that there is a certain metaphysical covering law that is instantiated in this particular instance of grounding. In this case, the law in question is the real definition or essence of being-hotter-than: one object is hotter than another iff the mean molecular kinetic energy of the former exceeds that of the latter. In effect, for Kment, the epistemology of metaphysical (essentialist) laws is a byproduct of the abductive epistemology of grounding and causation.