Mere Possibilities
"Stalnaker does us a service by illustrating the value--indeed, the philosophical necessity--of working from a conception of the models of possible-world semantic theories that is appropriately extensive, explicit, and nuanced. But prospective readers can also expect a great deal more than that from the serious study that this fine work both requires and repays."--John Divers, Philosophical Quarterly "Mere Possibilities is a rich and subtle text that might be connected in any number of ways to the literature on possible-world semantics and its relationship to metaphysics... Stalnaker does us a service by illustrating the value--indeed, the philosophical necessity--of working from a conception of the models of possible-world semantic theories that is appropriately extensive, explicit, and nuanced. But prospective readers can also expect a great deal more than that from the serious study that this fine work both requires and repays."--John Divers, Oxford Journals
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. Les mer
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.
Detaljer
- Forlag
- Princeton University Press
- Innbinding
- Innbundet
- Språk
- Engelsk
- Sider
- 184
- ISBN
- 9780691147123
- Utgivelsesår
- 2012
- Format
- 22 x 14 cm
Anmeldelser
"Stalnaker does us a service by illustrating the value--indeed, the philosophical necessity--of working from a conception of the models of possible-world semantic theories that is appropriately extensive, explicit, and nuanced. But prospective readers can also expect a great deal more than that from the serious study that this fine work both requires and repays."--John Divers, Philosophical Quarterly "Mere Possibilities is a rich and subtle text that might be connected in any number of ways to the literature on possible-world semantics and its relationship to metaphysics... Stalnaker does us a service by illustrating the value--indeed, the philosophical necessity--of working from a conception of the models of possible-world semantic theories that is appropriately extensive, explicit, and nuanced. But prospective readers can also expect a great deal more than that from the serious study that this fine work both requires and repays."--John Divers, Oxford Journals