{Mere possibilities} : metaphysical foundations of modal semantics / Robert Stalnaker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stalnaker, Robert.

Series:

Carl G. Hempel lecture series.

Carl G. Hempel lecture series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Semantics (Philosophy).

Logic, Symbolic and mathematical.

Modality (Logic).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (182 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

It seems reasonable to believe that there might have existed things other than those that in fact exist, or have existed. But how should we understand such claims? Standard semantic theories exploit the Leibnizian metaphor of a set of all possible worlds: a proposition might or must be true if it is true in some or all possible worlds. The actualist, who believes that nothing exists except what actually exists, prefers to talk of possible states of the world, or of ways that a world might be. But even the actualist still faces the problem of explaining what we are talking about when we talk about the domains of other possible worlds. In Mere Possibilities, Robert Stalnaker develops a framework for clarifying this problem, and explores a number of actualist strategies for solving it. Some philosophers have hypothesized a realm of individual essences that stand as proxies for all merely possible beings. Others have argued that we are committed to the necessary existence of everything that does or might exist. In contrast, Mere Possibilities shows how we can make sense of ordinary beliefs about what might and must exist without making counterintuitive metaphysical commitments. The book also sheds new light on the nature of metaphysical theorizing by exploring the interaction of semantic and metaphysical issues, the connections between different metaphysical issues, and the nature of ontological commitment.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1. On What There Isn't (But Might Have Been)

2. Merely Possible Possible Worlds

3. What Is Haecceitism, and Is It True?

4. Disentangling Semantics from Metaphysics

5. Modal Realism, Modal Rationalism, Modal Naturalism

Appendix A. Modeling Contingently Existing Propositions

Appendix B. Propositional Functions and Properties

Appendix C. A Model for a Mighty Language

Appendix D. Counterpart Semantics for the Cheap Haecceitist

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613379665

9781283379663

128337966X

9781400842292

1400842298

OCLC:

769343165