Questions tagged [possible-worlds]
The possible-worlds tag has no usage guidance.
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Are there set-theoretical problems with modal metaphysics?
I'm trying to learn about modal logic and the metaphysics of modality, and there's something
that has been bugging me about what I've read so far: are there set-theoretical issues with supposing we ...
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3answers
97 views
Is there any philosophy which proposes that whatever you believe or imagine is true or exists?
Every day, we have conflicts with almost everyone about what we think and what we believe (there are religious conflicts, conflicts of opinions...). Also, there are people who think about alternative ...
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136 views
what is meaning of accessibility of possible worlds?
I have a question about the notion of possibility in modal logic.
There are systems and worlds with this notion.
They say that a world w1 is accessible to an other world w2 if and only if for any true ...
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1answer
87 views
Having S5 system Why we need to use WPSR in Gale Pruss New cosmological arguement?
As you know Gale_ Pruss improved The cosmological argument using WPSR instead of Strong PSR.
They in their 1999 article said if it be possibly that there be a God who freely created the world using ...
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Does denying the Limit Assumption in counterfactual logic lead to contradiction?
According to the similarity semantics for counterfactuals, a counterfactual A > C is true iff on the most similar class of worlds to the actual world (or any given world the counterfactual's truth ...
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263 views
Did Robert Nozick's “Principle of Plenitude” propose the existence of universes based on different fundamental logics?
Philosopher Robert Nozick proposed the "Principle of Plenitude" (or of Fecundity), which proposes the existence of all possible worlds.
I have a feeling that it is different from David Lewis' Modal ...
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2answers
114 views
What is Robert Nozick alluding to by a “vast generalization” of Feynman’s path integral?
I was reading a book from the philosopher Robert Nozick (Invariances: The Structure of the Objective World), and there was something that confused me.
Around page 159 he argues that every logically ...
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184 views
What is the procentual probability that we live in the objective reality independent of our consciousness rather than in some virtual reality?
I am aware than it is impossible to prove anything in real life. Therefore we can't prove that the picture of the reality we are percieving through our senses is a subjective picture of an objective ...
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33 views
Did Carnap propose some kind of Modal Realism?
I have read in several pages that Rudolf Carnap, just as David Lewis (The creator of Modal Realism philosophical hypothesis) proposed that every logical proposition exists as a universe
But is this ...
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1answer
46 views
David Lewis and naturalism
I am studying Lewis and I am wondering what are the cornerstones of his philosophical perspective. In particular, I am wondering if Lewis is a naturalist like his supervisor Quine.
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60 views
Can a Rigid Designator still exist if there is only one possible world?
According to Kripke, a rigid designator is a pronoun (but not all pronouns are rigid designators) and they pick out the same unique individual in each possible world. I understand this, however, if ...
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124 views
Modal logics - philosophical paradoxes using modeling by possible worlds
I'm searching for "paradoxes" in classical modal logics, meaning lines of reasoning which give a counterintuitive conclusion if performed in classical logic, which can be modelled by the (semantical) ...
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271 views
Is there any physics-model version of Tegmark's hypothesis?
Tegmark's mathematical universe hypothesis is very interesting (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_universe_hypothesis) but it has virtually no support among physicists because it is too ...
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163 views
Is it possible to mathematically define a hypercomputer-universe where things that could not be computed by it could exist? [duplicate]
There are a few physicists that propose that the universe is a hypercomputer. One example is Roger Penrose, who, basing in his quantum interpretation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
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101 views
Propositions that can't be used to distinguish possible worlds
Are there known ways of formalizing the notion of propositions that can't be targeted by counterfactuals in a coherent way? Or of propositions that are outside the scope of the framework in question?
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422 views
Can many worlds interpretation have universes with different laws?
The Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics is classified by Max Tegmark as a level-3 multiverse hypothesis. This means that in the universes that it will predict, there could be different ...
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1answer
172 views
How does this anthropic principle argument from Schopenhauer make any sense?
According to a blog post This is what another universe looks like, "in Arthur Schopenhauer's 1844 work "Von der Nichtigkeit und dem Leiden des Lebens", he argues that our world must be the worst of ...
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126 views
Can Schmidhuber's hypothesis reproduce all types of universes? And Wheeler's it from bit? Or Weizsäcker's ur-theory?
I found a paper that talked about paraconsistent logic systems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraconsistent_logic) and trivialist systems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivialism) and the ...
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1answer
114 views
Does Tegmark himself include paraconsistent mathematical structures in his mathematical multiverse hypothesis?
Tegmark postulates in his hypothesis that all possible mathematical structures would exist. But does he include also possible mathematical structures described by other types of logic like ...
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2answers
553 views
Did David Deutsch really disprove the Simulation Hypothesis?
In The Fabric of Reality (1997) by David Deutsch, he says:
Imagine a computer built to render every possible Virtual Reality.
Suppose all possible environments produced by this generator can be
...
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2answers
432 views
Does Tegmark's Mathematical Universe hypothesis allow existence of alternative mathematics?
Tegmark's mathematical multiverse hypothesis assumes that all mathematical structures exist as universes
But do you know whether his hypothesis also allows/accept universes described by other types ...
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388 views
Can possible-but-non-actual objects have accidental properties?
The modal logic I am considering is the "Simplest Quantified Modal Logic" which combines first-order predicate logic with identity, with S5 in the most straightforward way, described here and slightly ...
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437 views
How could we get a world where only impossible things happen? [closed]
Imagine a universe where 1+1=3. This contradiction would trigger the effects of the principle of explosion, and thus, literally everything (possible and impossible things) could happen. If we lived in ...
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1answer
193 views
Is essentialism compatible with naturalism?
I am not an expert and I cannot understand why essentialism is incompatible with naturalism? Why scientific laws cannot describe essential properties of objects?
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2answers
158 views
What's the difference between logical modalities and physical modalities?
I am just wondering what's the difference between the two. I would say that there is something different, but honestly I can't define what it is exactly. What do you think?
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What is the Lange's viewpoint on laws of nature?
I am just wondering what is the Lange's philosophical perspective on laws of nature and what line of thought he follows in the contemporary debate.
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1answer
136 views
Do Alexius Meinong's impossible worlds describe all impossible worlds/things? [duplicate]
Does his impossible worlds category include (and can describe) literally all impossible things/worlds?
Inconsistencies, paradoxes, impossible solutions to problems (and impossible problems); really ...
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1answer
242 views
Why can we not reduce necessity to analyticity?
Why can’t we eliminate talk of necessity and possible worlds, for talk of analyticity and (non-modal) logical consistency? Has there been any attempt in recent times to do this? I'm not 100% sure, but ...
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5answers
2k views
If we imagine a world that functions without causality, how absurd could it be?
If we assume that there's a universe that is devoid of causality, and if we assume that it isn't eternally static, would that mean that everything can happen because there are no reasons inhibiting ...
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7answers
319 views
Is there an idea of non-spatial reality in philosophy?
Our world is spatial. In particular there are 3 dimensions and we can measure lengths of objects in either of them.
However, when thinking about metaphysics I came to the conclusion that there might ...
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2answers
433 views
How does the concept of the 'virtual' (Deleuze) relate to 'counterfactuals' (Lewis)?
We read:
"[...] Deleuze will reject the notion of the possible in favor of that of the virtual. Rather than awaiting realization, the virtual is fully real; what happens in genesis is that the ...
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3answers
338 views
Ontological status of Axiom of Choice
Mathematical facts are necessary truths, either in a Platonic sense or by way of axioms. In the latter sense I mean that the Peano Axioms prove that 2+3=5, for example.
In other words, "PA ⊨ 2+3=5"...
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130 views
circularity of possibility defined over possible worlds
I have just checked similar questions that have been asked(and answered) before but I am still confused. How is it that the notion of possibility defined over as being True in some possible world not ...
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1answer
186 views
How to valuate (assign truth values to) a formula in modal logic (Kripke model)
A total novice here, and exasperated at that. I can translate natural language statements into formulae of modal logic, but their valuation in Kripke model seems elusive, as I'm simply unsure how to ...
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1answer
103 views
Truth that requires two possible worlds not causally linked
There is a clear example I have in mind of a modal transformer. The primary winding is in possible world, W1. The secondary winding is in possible world, W2. W1 and W2 are not causally linked in any ...
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What is the theory that existence, life, and/or consciousness arise simply because all possibilities must be exhausted, and this is one of them?
I distinctly recall reading a Wikipedia page listing multiple theories on the origin of existence itself. One in particular, described in the title, was fascinating and came to mind recently, but I ...
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Why does it matter if we live in “the best of all possible worlds”?
We can formalize the argument in this way:
There is good and evil.
The good tries with all its power to prevent the evil from doing more evil (otherwise the good wouldn't be the good).
A possible ...
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1answer
124 views
What is the explanatory power of Possible World Semantics?
What kind of problems is PWS particularly suited that e.g. FOL couldn't address? I'm just wondering when is a good time to use PWS and for what kinds of questions.
Thanks!
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In what sense are mathematical relations necessary?
I just stumbled upon the following statement:
(1) The number of discovered chemical elements is 118. Take the sentence "The number of chemical elements is necessarily greater than 100". Again, ...
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Real impossible worlds
What is the name of a/the metaphysic that affirms the reality of all worlds including impossible worlds?
Actualism denies the reality of all non-actual worlds, possibilism affirms the reality of all ...
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1answer
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Are analytic propositions always vacuously true?
In a possible world where there are no bachelors is the proposition "bachelors are unmarried" vacuously true? Or is it tautologically true and you would then need to quantify bachelors as "all ...
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1answer
264 views
Does semantic externalism imply modal realism?
Semantic externalism, or more broadly externalism about mental content, is the idea that propositions, intentions, attitudes, etc. derive their meaning from the external world as opposed to internally ...
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1answer
244 views
Consistency in Modal Metaphysics
I read this article Modal Metaphysics weeks ago, but one thing that struck and perplexed me was the definition of consistency offered in this article. According to this article, it seems that one ...
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Is there any way to represented nested modalities in alethic modal logic?
It is possible to represent simple statements involving possibility and necessity in alethic modal logic and possible world semantics. But consider a statement like "It is possible that it is ...
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1answer
470 views
Is there anyone who believes that all modal statements are meaningless or trivial?
It is often useful to interpret statements in various modal logics using possible-world semantics. For instance "it is necessary that P" means "P is true in all possible worlds", "it is possible that ...
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2answers
248 views
Defining logical possibility without circularity
In explaining logical possibility (broad), I tend to say that a thing is logically possible if it exists in some possible world, some possible description of reality, but in what sense is such a world/...
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165 views
Can one be a Modal Realist without also having to incorporate the existence of impossible worlds?
I know Modal Realism well enough itself, and have read many of the objections (and subsequent responses) that David Lewis himself took up in relation to the philosophical position.
My question is, do ...
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1answer
303 views
The definition of a possible world
I have a two-part question about the definition of a possible world. I will make the assumption that time is tensed.
First of all, is a possible world a complete list of all propositions that are ...
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73 views
Can different varieties of modality be used with existential quantification?
I'm wondering if it makes sense to talk about worlds which aren't this one being real.
It seems like you can claim that something possibly exists.
Now I'm wondering, because it seems to amount to ...
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Is there a symbolic formulation of modal realism?
Is there a symbolic formulation of modal realism, i.e. the doctrines of modal realism captured in some formal system?
