The worlds of possibility : modal realism and the semantics of modal logic / Charles S. Chihara.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chihara, Charles S., 1932- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Modality (Logic).

Possibility.

Realism.

Plurality of worlds.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 342 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Modal realism and the semantics of modal logic

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Clarendon, 1998.

Summary:

Modal realism is the philosophical doctrine that there exist many possible worlds, of which the actual world is just one. This volume offers a critical exposition of the theory.

Contents:

Possible Worlds Semantics

An S5 Modal Quantificational Logic

Objections Raised by Plantinga and his Supporters

Transworld Identity

The Problem of Transworld Identity

Forbes's Solution

Doubts about Forbes's Solution

Plantinga's Solution

Lewis's Solution

Modal Realism

Lewis's Modal Realism: Exposition

Is Lewis's Analysis of Modality Correct?

Lewis's Justification for Possible Worlds

Two Objections to Lewis's Modal Realism

A Critique of Lewis's Views on Knowledge

Additional Doubts about Lewis's Analyses

Doubts about Lewis's Justification of his Mathematical Realism

Doubts about Lewis's Justification of his Modal Realism

Magical Ersatzism

Plantinga's Actualistic Modal Realism

Jager's Applied Semantics

Paradoxes in Plantinga's Ontological Theory

Anti-Modal Realism

Forbes's Anti-Realism: Exposition

Forbes's Anti-Realism: Some Doubts

Modal Fictionalism: Exposition

Modal Fictionalism: Problems and Doubts

The Semantics of Classical Predicate Logic

Interpretational and Representational Semantics

The Semantics of the Sentential Calculus

Davidson's Problem

A Connecting Theorem

The Semantics of First-Order Logic

Modality Without Worlds I: The Semantics of Modal Sentential Logic

An S5 Modal Sentential Calculus

C-Sentences

NL Proto-Interpretations that Conform to C-Sequences

Connecting Theorems

The Anti-Realist Account

Modality Without Worlds II: The Semantics of Modal Quantificational Logic

Actualism and Serious Actualism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-280-90504-2

9786610905041

OCLC:

1027140732