An Inquiry On Modal Metaphysical Puzzling Possible Worlds
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An Inquiry On Modal Metaphysical Puzzling Possible Worlds
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Author : Valery Berthoud
language : en
Publisher: Anchor Academic Publishing
Release Date : 2017-09-19
An Inquiry On Modal Metaphysical Puzzling Possible Worlds written by Valery Berthoud and has been published by Anchor Academic Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2017-09-19 with Philosophy categories.
The concept of possible worlds is useful because it defines the four modalities – possibility, necessity, contingency, and impossibility – but a challenge lies in defining it. David Lewis’ polemical hypothesis (“genuine modal realism” as it is called) succeeds in it. Lewis’ modal realism stirred controversy because he maintains that a plurality of worlds exists. Some philosophers suggest that the Lewisian view is a violation to the law of parsimony, also known as Ockham’s Razor, i.e. not multiply entities beyond necessity. While avoiding a circular definition, Lewis constructs an inflated ontology. Is it worth it, and if we do not want to assume too many Lewisian worlds, what alternatives remain? Actualist modal realism and modal antirealism are the most relevant alternatives because modal abstentionism simply will not progress in this direction. This study evaluates the theories of possible worlds.
Impossible Worlds
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Author : Francesco Berto
language : en
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date : 2019
Impossible Worlds written by Francesco Berto and has been published by Oxford University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2019 with Philosophy categories.
The latter half of the 20 ...
The Metaphysics Of Contingency
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Author : Ferenc Huoranszki
language : en
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Release Date : 2022-07-14
The Metaphysics Of Contingency written by Ferenc Huoranszki and has been published by Bloomsbury Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2022-07-14 with Philosophy categories.
Philosophers approach the problem of possibility in two markedly different ways: with reference to worlds, whereby an event is possible if there is a world in which it occurs, and with reference to modal properties, whereby an event is a possible manifestation of a property of some substance or object. Showing how the world-account cannot properly explain the nature of possibilities within worlds, Ferenc Huoranszki argues that the latter approach is more plausible. He develops a theory of contingent possibilities grounded in a distinction between abilities and dispositions as real, first-order modal properties of objects, with fundamentally distinct ontological roles. By understanding abilities as first-order modal properties, and by linking such modal properties to counterfactual conditionals, Huoranszki argues we can distinguish between variably generic or specific abilities and identify more or less abstract possibilities in a world. In doing so, he furthers our understanding of how we reason with possibilities in both ordinary and theoretical contexts. Providing a novel account of dispositions, abilities and their capacity to explain modality, this book advances current debates in contemporary metaphysics.
How Things Might Have Been
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Author : Penelope Mackie
language : en
Publisher: Clarendon Press
Release Date : 2006-04-27
How Things Might Have Been written by Penelope Mackie and has been published by Clarendon Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2006-04-27 with Philosophy categories.
How are we to distinguish between the essential and accidental properties of things such as individual people, cats, trees, and tables? Almost everyone agrees that such individuals could have been different, in certain respects, from the way that they actually are. But what are the respects in which they could not have been different: which of their properties are essential to their being the individuals that they are? And why? Following the revival of interest among analytic philosophers in essentialism and de re modality generated by the work of Kripke and others in the 1970s, these questions have been the subject of intense, yet still unresolved, debate. In this book, Penelope Mackie challenges most of the answers that have been given to these questions. Via a critical examination of rival theories, she arrives at what she calls 'minimalist essentialism', an unorthodox theory according to which ordinary individuals have relatively few interesting essential properties, and intuitions that appear to support stronger versions of essentialism are interpreted as consistent with the theory. The topics discussed include the rivalry between the interpretation of de re modality in terms of 'identity across possible worlds' and its interpretation in terms of David Lewis's counterpart theory, some notorious modal puzzles generated by the theory that individuals exist with different properties in different possible worlds, the notion of an individual essence, Kripke's 'necessity of origin' thesis, and the widely held view that there are sortal properties that are essential properties of the things to which they belong. The book also includes a discussion of the relation between essentialism about individuals and essentialism about natural kinds, and a critical examination of the connection between semantics and natural kind essentialism.
Columbia Companion To Twentieth Century Philosophies
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Author : Constantin V. Boundas
language : en
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Release Date : 2007
Columbia Companion To Twentieth Century Philosophies written by Constantin V. Boundas and has been published by Columbia University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2007 with Philosophy categories.
Columbia Companion to Twentieth-Century Philosophies is the first guide to cover both the Anglo-American analytic and European continental traditions. Organized thematically, the volume thoroughly discusses the major movements and fields of each tradition and features the contributions of highly distinguished specialists in their fields. This book is divided into three sections. The first is devoted to highlighting the multidimensional work of philosophers identified with the analytic tradition, with Nicholas Rescher writing on neoidealism, Josephine Donovan commenting on feminist philosophy, Tyler Burge discussing the philosophy of language and mind, and Robert Hanna reflecting on Kant's legacy. The second section presents the thought of those who identified themselves with the continental tradition, featuring Jean Grondin on hermeneutics, Leonard Lawlor on phenomenology, Charles Scott on postmodernism, and Babette Babich on the philosophy of science. This volume also covers logical positivism, naturalism, pragmatism, aesthetics, existentialism, Marxism, the Frankfurt School, structuralism, psychoanalysis, political philosophy, ethics, and the philosophy of religion. The final section addresses concurrent trends in Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and African philosophy, and a comprehensive introduction by the editor not only provides a thorough outline of the problems and issues of the analytic and continental traditions but also boldly challenges the conviction that the two approaches must be rivals. Columbia Companion to Twentieth-Century Philosophies is an invaluable overview of the ideas that have shaped a monumentally important century in the history of philosophy, offering an unusually panoramic perspective that allows readers to form their own interpretations of original materials.
The Foundations Of Modality
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Author : Peter Fritz
language : en
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date : 2023-10-03
The Foundations Of Modality written by Peter Fritz and has been published by Oxford University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2023-10-03 with Philosophy categories.
The notions of necessity and possibility, as well as the notion of a possible world, are ubiquitous in philosophy. Nevertheless, these notions remain controversial. It also remains controversial whether metaphysics requires notions drawing distinctions which are finer than those which can be drawn in terms of necessity and possibility, such as the recently much-discussed notion of grounding. In order to make progress on these debates, this book develops a general framework for theorizing about such intensional notions using the tools of higher-order logic. The Foundations of Modality begins by motivating the use of higher-order logic, and introduces a particularly simple form of higher-order logic. Progress is made on well-trodden territory concerning modality and possible worlds by considering first the question how fine propositions are individuated. Peter Fritz uses both logical results and philosophical arguments to motivate a relatively coarse-grained individuation of propositions. Fritz shows that a number of putative metaphysical notions are ruled out by this theory of individuation. Furthermore, the theory allows the controversial notion of (metaphysical) necessity to be delineated as the broadest necessity, which applies just to the single tautologous proposition. This book also vindicates appeals to possible worlds: First, it shows that if anything plays the theoretical role of possible worlds, then certain propositions do so. Second, it argues that there are in fact the required propositions playing the role of possible worlds; this is shown using the notion of plural quantification over propositions in higher-order logic.
The World Time Parallel
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Author : A. A. Rini
language : en
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Release Date : 2012-01-19
The World Time Parallel written by A. A. Rini and has been published by Cambridge University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2012-01-19 with Philosophy categories.
Is what could have happened but never did as real as what did happen? What did happen, but isn't happening now, happened at another time. Analogously, one can say that what could have happened happens in another possible world. Whatever their views about the reality of such things as possible worlds, philosophers need to take this analogy seriously. Adriane Rini and Max Cresswell exhibit, in an easy step-by-step manner, the logical structure of temporal and modal discourse, and show that every temporal construction has an exact parallel that requires a language that can refer to worlds, and vice versa. They make precise, in a way which can be articulated and tested, the claim that the parallel is at work behind even ordinary talk about time and modality. The book gives metaphysicians a sturdy framework for the investigation of time and modality - one that does not presuppose any particular metaphysical view.
Leibniz General Inquiries On The Analysis Of Notions And Truths
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Author : Massimo Mugnai
language : en
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date : 2021-06-08
Leibniz General Inquiries On The Analysis Of Notions And Truths written by Massimo Mugnai and has been published by Oxford University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2021-06-08 with Philosophy categories.
New Texts in the History of Philosophy Published in association with the British Society for the History of Philosophy The aim of this series is to encourage and facilitate the study of all aspects of the history of philosophy, including the rediscovery of neglected elements and the exploration of new approaches to the subject. Texts are selected on the basis of their philosophical and historical significance and with a view to promoting the understanding of currently under-represented authors, philosophical traditions, and historical periods. They include new editions and translations of important yet less well-known works which are not widely available to an Anglophone readership. The series is sponsored by the British Society for the History of Philosophy (BSHP) and is managed by an editorial team elected by the Society. It reflects the Society's main mission and its strong commitment to broadening the canon. In General Inquiries on the Analysis of Notions and Truths, Leibniz articulates for the first time his favourite solution to the problem of contingency and displays the main features of his logical calculus. Leibniz composed the work in 1686, the same year in which he began to correspond with Arnauld and wrote the Discourse on Metaphysics. General Inquiries supplements these contemporary entries in Leibniz's philosophical oeuvre and demonstrates the intimate connection that links Leibniz's philosophy with the attempt to create a new kind of logic. This edition presents the text and translation of the General Inquiries along with an introduction and commentary. Given the composite structure of the text, where logic and metaphysics strongly intertwine, Mugnai's introduction falls into two sections, respectively dedicated to logic and metaphysics. The first section ('Logic') begins with a preliminary account of Leibniz's project for a universal characteristic and focuses on the relationships between rational grammar and logic, and discusses the general structure and the main ingredients of Leibniz's logical calculus. The second section ('Metaphysics') is centred on the problem of contingency, which occupied Leibniz until the end of his life. Mugnai provides an account of the problem, and details Leibniz's proposed solution, based on the concept of infinite analysis.
Higher Order Metaphysics
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Author : Peter Fritz
language : en
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date : 2024
Higher Order Metaphysics written by Peter Fritz and has been published by Oxford University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2024 with Philosophy categories.
This volume explores the use of higher-order logics in metaphysics. Seventeen original essays trace the development of higher-order metaphysics, discuss different ways in which higher-order languages and logics may be used, and consider their application to various central topics of metaphysics.
Logical Dynamics Of Information And Interaction
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Author : Johan van Benthem
language : en
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Release Date : 2011-09-29
Logical Dynamics Of Information And Interaction written by Johan van Benthem and has been published by Cambridge University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2011-09-29 with Mathematics categories.
This book develops a view of logic as a theory of information-driven agency and intelligent interaction between many agents - with conversation, argumentation and games as guiding examples. It provides one uniform account of dynamic logics for acts of inference, observation, questions and communication, that can handle both update of knowledge and revision of beliefs. It then extends the dynamic style of analysis to include changing preferences and goals, temporal processes, group action and strategic interaction in games. Throughout, the book develops a mathematical theory unifying all these systems, and positioning them at the interface of logic, philosophy, computer science and game theory. A series of further chapters explores repercussions of the 'dynamic stance' for these areas, as well as cognitive science.