The Worlds of Possibility

Modal Realism and the Semantics of Modal Logic
Erscheinungsjahr 2001
ISBN: 978-0-19-924655-7
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 354 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 541 g

Charles Chihara gives a thorough critical exposition of modal realism, the philosophical doctrine that there exist many possible worlds of which the actual world -- the universe in which we live -- is just one. The striking success of possible-worlds semantics in modal logic has made this ontological doctrine attractive. Modal realists maintain that philosophers must accept the existence of possible worlds if they wish to have the benefit of using possible-worlds semantics to assess modal arguments and explain modal principles. Chihara challenges this claim, and argues instead for modality without worlds; he offers a new account of the role of interpretations or structures of the formal languages of logic.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Chihara, Charles S.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Metaphysik, Ontologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Semantik & Pragmatik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie der Mathematik, Philosophie der Physik
• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Mathematik Allgemein Philosophie der Mathematik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophische Logik, Argumentationstheorie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- 1: Possible Worlds Semantics

- 2: Transworld Identity

- 3: Modal Realism

- 4: Forbes's Anti-Modal Realism

- 5: The Semantics of Classical Predicate Logic

- 6: Modality without Worlds: The Semantics of Modal Sentential Logic

- 7: Quantificational Logic

- 8: Modality without Worlds: Explorations, Developments, and Defences

- 9: Anti-Realism in Mathematics

- Bibliography

- Index

Über Autor(innen)

Charles S. Chihara is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.