DOCSLIB.ORG

Problems for Modal Reductionism: Concrete Possible Worlds As a Test Case

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Problems for Modal Reductionism: Concrete Possible Worlds As a Test Case Problems for Modal Reductionism: Concrete Possible Worlds as a Test Case Jonathan Nassim Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Birkbeck, University of London I hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is entirely my own. Jonathan Nassim 2 Abstract This thesis is an argument for the view that there are problems for Modal Reductionism, the thesis that modality can satisfactorily be defined in non-modal terms. I proceed via a case study of David Lewis’s theory of concrete possible worlds. This theory is commonly regarded as the best and most influential candidate reductive theory of modality. Based on a detailed examination of its ontology, analysis and justification, I conclude that it does badly with respect to the following four minimal conditions on a satisfactory reductive theory of modality: that it be (a) genuinely reductive, (b) materially adequate, (c) conceptually adequate and (d) that its justification provides good reason to think it true. These problems for Lewis’s theory are not, I suggest, due to his idiosyncratic conception of possible worlds as concrete entities. Rather, because Lewis’s theory can be seen to represent an important class of structurally similar reductive theories of modality, the problems for Lewis’s theory generalise to problems for these other theories. This suggests that Modal Reductionism is unpromising. In the light of this, the alternative approach to understanding modality, Modal Primitivism, appears more attractive. 3 This thesis is dedicated to my family 4 Acknowledgements I would like to thank a number of people who have helped me complete this thesis. My supervisors, Ian Rumfitt and Keith Hossack, have been very generous with their time, and it is through many stimulating discussions with them that the ideas and the shape of this thesis took form. I found myself lucky to be in a department with such a rich tradition of thinking about modality. In particular, the depth and clarity of Ian McFetridge’s writings on this topic (and others) both inspired and provided a daunting standard to live up to. I also wish to thank Birkbeck College and the Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Jacobsen Studentship for the funding that enabled me to write this thesis. My friends at Birkbeck have been supportive in many ways. I thank in particular Robert Bassett whose insightful comments, questions and lessons have left their mark throughout this thesis. Robert, together with Christoph Schuringa, Adam Ferner, Alex Douglas, Dan Adams, Chris Sykes, Nathan Hauthaler and Michael Coughin have read, commented on and discussed my work, and it has hugely improved thanks to their help. There are many others who kindly offered their help and I also thank them. Long before Birkbeck, Marie McGinn, my first philosophy tutor, offered me the time, patience and a supportive space to ask questions without feeling stupid; and her guidance as to how they shouldn’t be answered still informs my thinking. Later, Ralph Walker’s generosity and belief I could think for myself are gifts I still treasure. More recently, it was attending the lectures and seminars of Saleh Agha and Patrick Lewtas, together with many discussions with them in the American University of Beirut, which rekindled my interest in philosophy and led me to begin this thesis. Finally, I want to thank my councilor and friend, Charles Hampton, whose kindness and gentle words have guided me through dark times and light. It is hard to express what I owe to my family and how grateful I am for them. The love of my brother, David, and mother, Joan, have given me the knowledge that if I fall, I will be caught; and my late father, Victor, still teaches me what it is to persevere. I want lastly to thank my beloved partner Mikala for among other things, helping to give structure to a structureless thesis, commenting on several chapters, and discussing its subject-matter with me (ad nauseam) over several years, and generally putting up with me. But she has given me so much more, and it is for that I want mainly to thank her. 5 The music-master praised the bird tremendously, and insisted that it was much better than the real nightingale, not only as regarded the outside with all the diamonds, but the inside too. ‘Because you see, my ladies and gentlemen, and the emperor before all, in the real nightingale you never know what you will hear, but in the artificial one everything is decided beforehand! So it is, and so it must remain, it can’t be otherwise. You can account for things, you can open it and show the human ingenuity in arranging the waltzes, how they go, and how one note follows upon another!’ (Hans Christen Anderson, ‘The Nightingale’) And now the question remains whether we would give up our language-game which rests on ‘imponderable evidence’ and frequently leads to uncertainty, if it were possible to exchange it for a more exact one which by and large would have similar consequences. For instance, we could work with a mechanical ‘lie detector’ and redefine a lie as that which causes a deflection on the lie detector. So the question is: would we change our way of living, if this or that were provided for us? – And how could I answer that? (Ludwig Wittgenstein, in Kerr 2008, 91) 6 Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1.0 Modal Reductionism...………………………………………………….... 9 1.1 Concrete possible worlds as a test case………………………...………… 19 1.2 Testing reductive theories of modality…………………………………… 26 1.3 Thesis outline…………………………………………………………….. 33 Chapter 2: Lewis’s theory of modality 2.0 Lewis’s theory of modality………………………………………………. 36 2.1 Relating Lewis’s ontology of worlds and the analysis of modality……… 39 2.2 Justification………………………………………………………………. 49 Chapter 3: Ontology 3.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………….… 56 3.1 Why Lewis needs a principle of plenitude………………….……………. 57 3.2 Ways…………………………………………………………….………... 60 3.3 The objection to Ways………………………………………………......... 65 3.4 The Principle of Recombination and its roles in Lewis’s theory………… 68 3.5 Objections to The Principle of Recombination..….……………………… 71 3.51 Irreducible modality…………………………………………….… 72 3.52 Material inadequacy………………………………………….…… 75 3.6 Assessment…………………………………………………….…………. 85 Chapter 4: Analysis 4.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………. 87 4.1 Lewis’s analysis is a conceptual analysis..………………………..……… 93 4.2 Lewis’s arguments for the conceptual connection……………………….. 100 4.21 Translation with explicit rules……………………………………. 101 4.22 Clarification and critique…………………………………………. 102 4.23 Translation without explicit rules………………………………… 109 4.24 Clarification and critique…………………………………………. 111 4.25 The Theoretical Identification Argument………………………… 120 7 4.26 Clarification and critique…………………………………………. 121 4.3 Arguments against the conceptual connection……………….…………... 129 4.31 Quantification and understanding………………….……………... 130 4.32 Ontological commitments and modal concepts…………………... 137 4.4 Assessment…………………………………………….………………..... 145 Chapter 5: Justification 5.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………. 147 5.1 Lewis’s conception of primitives………………………………………… 153 5.2 The Modal Reduction Principle and The General Reduction Principle….. 156 5.3 The Unification Principle and The Truth Principle……………………..... 162 5.4 Objections to Lewis’s justification…………………………….…………. 168 5.5 Assessment……………………………………………….………............. 183 Chapter 6: Conclusion 6.0 Results of the case study………..………………………………………... 185 6.1 Generalisations and their limitations…………………….………….......... 187 6.2 Modal Primitivism………………………………….…………………….. 201 Bibliography……………………………………………………...…………. 207 8 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.0 Modal Reductionism I Modal notions play a fundamental role in our lives and thought. Without them there is much we could not think or do. The connections between modality and the standard accounts of decision-making, free will and moral responsibility, abundantly illustrate this. On such accounts, decision-making involves deliberation about which of a range of possible actions should be performed, and the selection of one to perform.1 Free will places a modal condition on decision-making: having a free will requires being free to choose to do a possible action, say F. We are free to choose to do F only if we could have chosen to do another possible action G. Finally, moral responsibility requires free will, for we are not morally responsible for actions with respect to which we couldn’t have chosen otherwise. So modality comes into standard accounts of: (a) what we reason about when we deliberate, (b) what we aim to bring about when we act, (c) free will, and so (d) moral responsibility. These connections suggest a rather platonic picture of humans: their rational minds can escape this earthly realm, and gain access to the paradise of possibility. In this realm an array of possible actions are contemplated and one selected to bring about by action. This platonic picture is supported by a long tradition which seeks to distinguish humans from other animals by virtue of our access to the realm of possibility, and the use we make of it in our lives. Often our access to it is tied to our linguistic capacities. For instance, Pettit holds that it is certainly unlikely that non-human animals live up to the picture [of decision-making as a matter of deliberation+decision]. According to this description, the options over which agents deliberate are abstracta, not concreta: they are ways things might be – ways the agent knows how to make things be – not actual events. Human beings can identify such entities on the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Logic in Action: Wittgenstein's Logical Pragmatism and the Impotence of Scepticism
    This is the final, pre-publication draft. Please cite only from published paper in Philosophical Investigations 26:2 (April 2003), 125-48. LOGIC IN ACTION: WITTGENSTEIN'S LOGICAL PRAGMATISM AND THE IMPOTENCE OF SCEPTICISM DANIÈLE MOYAL-SHARROCK UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA 1. The Many Faces of Certainty: Wittgenstein's Logical Pragmatism So I am trying to say something that sounds like pragmatism. (OC 422) In his struggle to uncover the nature of our basic beliefs, Wittgenstein depicts them variously in On Certainty: he thinks of them in propositional terms, in pictorial terms and in terms of acting. As propositions, they would be of a peculiar sort – a hybrid between a logical and an empirical proposition (OC 136, 309). These are the so-called 'hinge propositions' of On Certainty (OC 341). Wittgenstein also thinks of these beliefs as forming a picture, a World-picture – or Weltbild (OC 167). This is a step in the right (nonpropositional) direction, but not the ultimate step. Wittgenstein's ultimate and crucial depiction of our basic beliefs is in terms of a know-how, an attitude, a way of acting (OC 204). Here, he treads on pragmatist ground. But can Wittgenstein be labelled a pragmatist, having himself rejected the affiliation because of its utility implication? But you aren't a pragmatist? No. For I am not saying that a proposition is true if it is useful. (RPP I, 266) Wittgenstein resists affiliation with pragmatism because he does not want his use of use to be confused with the utility use of use. For him, it is not that a proposition is true if it is useful, but that use gives the proposition its sense.
    [Show full text]
  • Modalism and Theoretical Virtues: Toward an Epistemology of Modality
    This is a repository copy of Modalism and theoretical virtues: Toward an epistemology of modality. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/83720/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Bueno, O and Shalkowski, SA (2015) Modalism and theoretical virtues: Toward an epistemology of modality. Philosophical Studies, 172 (3). pp. 671-689. ISSN 0031-8116 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-014-0327-7 Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Modalism and Theoretical Virtues: Toward an Epistemology of Modality1 Otávio Bueno Department of Philosophy University of Miami Coral Gables, FL 33124-4670, USA e-mail: [email protected] Scott A. Shalkowski Department of Philosophy University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT, UK e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT According to modalism, modality is primitive. In this paper, we examine the implications of this view for modal epistemology, and articulate a modalist account of modal knowledge.
    [Show full text]
  • Generalized Molecular Formulas in Logical Atomism
    Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy An Argument for Completely General Facts: Volume 9, Number 7 Generalized Molecular Formulas in Logical Editor in Chief Atomism Audrey Yap, University of Victoria Landon D. C. Elkind Editorial Board Annalisa Coliva, UC Irvine In his 1918 logical atomism lectures, Russell argued that there are Vera Flocke, Indiana University, Bloomington no molecular facts. But he posed a problem for anyone wanting Henry Jackman, York University to avoid molecular facts: we need truth-makers for generaliza- Frederique Janssen-Lauret, University of Manchester tions of molecular formulas, but such truth-makers seem to be Kevin C. Klement, University of Massachusetts both unavoidable and to have an abominably molecular charac- Consuelo Preti, The College of New Jersey ter. Call this the problem of generalized molecular formulas. I clarify Marcus Rossberg, University of Connecticut the problem here by distinguishing two kinds of generalized Anthony Skelton, Western University molecular formula: incompletely generalized molecular formulas Mark Textor, King’s College London and completely generalized molecular formulas. I next argue that, if empty worlds are logically possible, then the model-theoretic Editors for Special Issues and truth-functional considerations that are usually given ad- Sandra Lapointe, McMaster University dress the problem posed by the first kind of formula, but not the Alexander Klein, McMaster University problem posed by the second kind. I then show that Russell’s Review Editors commitments in 1918 provide an answer to the problem of com- Sean Morris, Metropolitan State University of Denver pletely generalized molecular formulas: some truth-makers will Sanford Shieh, Wesleyan University be non-atomic facts that have no constituents.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophical Reflections on Modern Quantum Gravity Research
    Stringed along or caught in a loop? Stringed along or caught in a loop? Philosophical reflections on modern quantum gravity research Keizo Matsubara Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Geijersalen, Building 6, (Eng 6-1023), English Park Campus, Thunbergsvägen 3P, Uppsala, Friday, January 18, 2013 at 10:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Abstract Matsubara, K. 2013. Stringed along or caught in a loop?: Philosophical reflections on modern quantum gravity research. Filosofiska Institutionen. 139 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 978-91-506-2324-6. A number of philosophical questions, all connected to modern research in quantum gravity, are discussed in this dissertation. The goal of research in quantum gravity is to find a quantum theory for gravitation; the ot- her fundamental forces are already understood in terms of quantum physics. Quantum gravity is studied within a number of different research programmes. The most popular are string theory and loop quantum gravity; besides these a number of other approaches are pursued. Due to the lack of empirical support, it is relevant to assess the scientific status of this rese- arch. This is done from four different points of view, namely the ones held by: logical positi- vists, Popper, Kuhn and Lakatos. It is then argued that research in quantum gravity may be considered scientific, conditional on scientists being open with the tentative and speculative nature of their pursuits. Given the lack of empirical progress, in all approaches to quantum gravity, a pluralistic strategy is advised. In string theory there are different theoretical formulations, or dualities, which are physi- cally equivalent.
    [Show full text]
  • Peircean Modal Realism?”
    Nordic NSP Studies in Pragmatism Helsinki | 2010 Sami Pihlstr¨om “Peircean Modal Realism?” In: Bergman, M., Paavola, S., Pietarinen, A.-V., & Rydenfelt, H. (Eds.) (2010). Ideas in Action: Proceedings of the Applying Peirce Conference (pp. 48–61). Nordic Studies in Pragmatism 1. Helsinki: Nordic Pragmatism Network. ISSN-L - ISSN - ISBN ---- Copyright c 2010 The Authors and the Nordic Pragmatism Network. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. CC BY NC For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/./ Nordic Pragmatism Network, NPN Helsinki 2010 www.nordprag.org Peircean Modal Realism? Sami Pihlstr¨om University of Helsinki 1. Introduction: the metaphysically realist assumptions of contem- porary modal realism1 The purpose of this paper is to critically compare Charles Peirce’s meta- physics of the modalities – or a “Peircean” approach to this metaphysical is- sue derived from his defense of scholastic realism – to the modal realist views defended by important twentieth century and contemporary philosophers. In this introductory section, I note that the contemporary discourse on modality is firmly rooted in metaphysical realism. In section 2, I suggest that the Peircean approach is closer to Kantian transcendental metaphysics. The contrast between metaphysical realism – or what Kant called “tran- scendental realism” – and the properly transcendental metaphysics in my view inherited by pragmatism turns out to be important, both generally and in the case of modality. Section 3 examines the possibility of inter- preting Peirce’s scholastic realism (a key doctrine in his modal theory) as 1 In addition to the Applying Peirce conference (Helsinki, June 2007), parts of this material were presented at the conference on Peirce’s normative thought in Opole, Poland (also June 2007).
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Logical Consequence for Nominalists
    THEORIA. Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia ISSN: 0495-4548 [email protected] Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea España ROSSBERG, Marcus; COHNITZ, Daniel Logical Consequence for Nominalists THEORIA. Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia, vol. 24, núm. 2, 2009, pp. 147- 168 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea Donostia-San Sebastián, España Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=339730809003 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Logical Consequence for Nominalists Marcus ROSSBERG and Daniel COHNITZ BIBLID [0495-4548 (2009) 24: 65; pp. 147-168] ABSTRACT: It has repeatedly been argued that nominalistic programmes in the philosophy of mathematics fail, since they will at some point or other involve the notion of logical consequence which is unavailable to the nominalist. In this paper we will argue that this is not the case. Using an idea of Nelson Goodman and W.V.Quine's which they developed in Goodman and Quine (1947) and supplementing it with means that should be nominalistically acceptable, we present a way to explicate logical consequence in a nominalistically acceptable way. Keywords: Philosophy of mathematics, nominalism, logical consequence, inferentialism, Nelson Goodman, W.V. Quine. 1. The Argument from Logical Consequence We do not have any strong convictions concerning the question of the existence or non- existence of abstract objects. We do, however, believe that ontological fastidiousness is prima facie a good attitude to adopt.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Parallels Between, and Modal Realism Underlying Einstein and Everett Relativities
    Historical Parallels between, and Modal Realism underlying Einstein and Everett Relativities Sascha Vongehr National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China A century ago, “ past ” and “ future ”, previously strictly apart, mixed up and merged. Temporal terminology improved. Today, not actualized quantum states, that is merely “ possible ” alternatives, objectively “exist ” (are real) when they interfere. Again, two previously strictly immiscible realms mix. Now, modal terminology is insufficient. Both times, extreme reactions reach from rejection of the empirical science to mystic holism. This paper shows how progress started with the relativization of previously absolute terms, first through Einstein’s relativity and now through Everett’s relative state description, which is a modal realism. The historical parallels suggest mere relativization is insufficient. A deformation of domains occurs: The determined past and the dependent future were restricted to smaller regions of space-time. This ‘light cone description’ is superior to hyperspace foliations and already entails the modal realism of quantum mechanics. Moreover, an entirely new region, namely the ‘absolute elsewhere’ was identified. The historical precedent suggests that modal terminology may need a similar extension. Discussing the modal realistic connection underlying both relativities, Popper’s proof of future indeterminism is turned to shatter the past already into many worlds/minds, thus Everett relativity is merely the
    [Show full text]
  • "Metaphysical" Possibility Revisited
    Justin Clarke-Doane Columbia University “Metaphysical” Possibility Revisited Metaphysical Possibility: That alethic, non-deontic, modality whose necessities are supposed to include the likes of conceptual truths, (pure) mathematical truths, truths of fundamental ontology (such as that there are, or are not, propositions, properties, or possible worlds), mereological truths, identity truths, explanatorily basic normative truths, and grounding truths. o Sider: “We are told that logic…is metaphysically necessary. We are told that laws of nature are not….[I]t is metaphysically necessary that “nothing can be in two places at once”, and so on. This conception falls…short of a full criterion. But a thin conception is not in itself problematic. For when a notion is taken to be fundamental, one often assumes that the facts involving the notion will outrun one's conception [2011, 266].” It is widely agreed that the intelligibility of metaphysical modality has been vindicated. o Quine: “I do not myself make sense…of metaphysical necessity [1990, 224].” o Williamson: “[M]etaphysical modality is only one member of the extended family of objective modalities. Arguments for scepticism about metaphysical modality tend [implausibly] to generalize to other objective modalities [2016, 462].” But even if metaphysical modality is intelligible, it could lack much metaphysical significance. I will argue that this is the case, and will conclude with an alternative conception of possibility. Extant “Deflationist” Critiques Sidelle [1989] & Unger [2014]: “Twin Earth” thought experiments just concern the meaning of a word. We all agree what worlds there are. We just disagree about how to describe them. Problem: This critique is quite limited.
    [Show full text]
  • Possible Worlds I: Modal Realism
    Possible Worlds I: Modal Realism May 31, 2009 It is difficult to wander far in contemporary metaphysics without bumping into talk of possible worlds. And reference to possible worlds is not confined to metaphysics. It can be found in contemporary epistemology and ethics, and has even found its way into linguistics and decision theory. But what are those possible worlds, the entities to which theorists in these disciplines all appeal? Call any attempt to answer this question a theory of possible worlds. This paper sets out and evaluates a leading contemporary theory of possible worlds. The view’s principal proponent is David Lewis, and his label for it is ‘Modal Realism,’ which I will abbreviate ‘MR.’1 The view accepts the following sys- tematic correspondence between certain modal facts and facts regarding the existence of possible worlds: (SC) it is possible that φ iff there is a w such that w is a possible world and ‘φ’ is true at w. Lewis proposes MR, in part, as an attempt to specify the nature of the possible worlds whose existence is required by (SC)’s instances. This paper outlines Lewis’s view and discusses some main lines of objection. I will start by noting two competing ambitions for a theory of possible worlds (§1): that a theory of possible worlds be reductive and user-friendly. I will then outline Lewis’s version of MR (§2), and consider objections on the grounds that MR is not reductive (§3) and not user-friendly (§4). 1 Two Ambitions for a Theory of Possible Worlds There are at least two ambitions one might have for a theory of possible worlds.
    [Show full text]
  • 22 Worlds Within Worlds: a Dilemma for Modal Realism
    Worlds within Worlds: 22 a Dilemma for Modal Realism Subrena E. Smith | University of New Hampshire. In this paper I will present an argument that David Lewis’ modal realism is self-refuting, and that the contradiction that makes it self-refuting can only be blocked by modifying certain other of Lewis’ philosophical commitments. My argument will proceed as follows. First, I will briefly describe the motivation for and the main components of Lewisian modal realism. Second, I will explain Lewis’ view of what it is for an individual or a set to exist in a world. Third, I go on to argue that Lewis’ position creates a dilemma for modal realism: either each world contains all the other worlds as parts, which violates the principle that worlds are spatiotemporally isolated, or worlds are reducible to sets, which violates the principle that worlds are individuals. Finally, I briefly discuss a suggestion by Divers that strongly bears on this problem. Modal Realism I begin with a summary description of modal realism. Modal realism is motivated by the broadly Quinean view that quantifying over possibilia provides us with the best way of making sense of modal claims, a position that Lewis (1986a) defends in considerable detail as “a philosopher’s paradise.” Lewis identifies possibilia with worlds. Worlds are concrete (“a big physical object” [Lewis, 1986b: 1]) and non-overlapping. They are non-overlapping because they are spatiotemporally, and therefore causally, segregated from one another. Items are spatiotemporally or causally related to one another just in case they are parts of the same world, and no two worlds share any parts.
    [Show full text]
  • Primitive Modality and Possible Worlds
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by RERO DOC Digital Library Primitive Modality and Possible Worlds JAVIER KALHAT Abstract This paper sets out a number of reasons for thinking that the framework of possible worlds, even when construed non-reductively, does not provide an adequate basis for an explanation of modality. I first consider a non-reductive version of Lewis’ modal realism, and then move on to consider the ersatzist approach of Plantinga et al.My main complaint is that the framework of possible worlds gets the semantics and meta- physics of ordinary modal discourse wrong. That is, possible worlds do not give us an adequate answer to the semantic question of what ordinary modal claims mean, nor do they give us an adequate answer to the metaphysical question of what makes such claims true. There is a growing consensus among philosophers that modality cannot be reductively explained. Modal notions are to be accounted for, not by trying to reduce them to non-modal ones, but rather by tracing their complex interconnections with one another. The most prominent non-reductive approach to modality is what David Lewis calls ersatzism.1 Like Lewis, ersatzists attempt to explain modality in terms of possible worlds and their inhabitants. Unlike Lewis, they construe possible worlds as abstract representations of concrete worlds, rather than as concrete worlds themselves. And unlike Lewis, of course, they construe possible worlds as primitively modal in nature. Proponents of ersatzism include Adams, Kripke, Plantinga, and Stalnaker among others.2 1 David Lewis, On the Plurality of Worlds (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986), Ch.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Make Possibility Safe for Empiricists Abstract 1. Introduction
    Draft commenced August 31, 2020. Version of October 16, 26, November 4, 2020; January 12, February 21, March 1, 2021. Typo corrections, August 26, 2021 How to Make Possibility Safe for Empiricists John D. Norton1 Department of History and Philosophy of Science University of Pittsburgh http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton Abstract What is possible, according to the empiricist conception, is what our evidence positively allows; and what is necessary is what it compels. These notions, along with logical possibility, are the only defensible notions of possibility and necessity. In so far as nomic and metaphysical possibilities are defensible, they fall within empirical possibility. These empirical conceptions are incompatible with traditional possible world semantics. Empirically necessary propositions cannot be defined as those true in all possible worlds. There can be empirical possibilities without empirical necessities. The duality of possibility and necessity can be degenerate and can even be falsified. 1. Introduction What are “small-e” empiricist2 philosophers of science, like me, to make of possibilities? They are central to science. Our best theories of gravity and stellar structure tell us that it is 1 My thanks to Yemima Ben-Menahem, Jeremy Butterfield, Patrick Dürr, Carl Hoefer, Edouard Machery, Brian McLoone, James Norton, Matt Parker, Bryan Roberts, Margot Strohminger and Jim Woodward for helpful discussion. They bear no responsibility for the content of this paper other than for failing to talk me out of it. 2 A “small-e” empiricist holds that we can only learn contingent truths of the world from experiences of the world. A “big-E” Empiricist holds the stronger view that these experiences are all we can learn.
    [Show full text]