 In contrast, contemporary philosophers’ puzzlement over “how relations relate” stems from a different place. The assumption in this case seems to be that unless some account of the nature of relations adequately explains what makes them apt to unite distinct relata, an appeal to relations as relating entities is illicit. The type of explanation that philosophers are after in this context often remains unspecified, though it is clear that what is expected is not a causal explanation, but a metaphysical explanation of some kind. It is assumed that an adequate explanation will refer to some special feature of relations that makes it possible for them to relate; absent such feature, relations are usually considered to be relationally inert and Bradley’s regress of relations is re-introduced.