Last modified: 28 Jun 2018 10:27
The Metaphysics of Possibility. In almost any area of contemporary philosophy that you study, you will eventually encounter talk of possible worlds. Physicalism, naturalism in ethics, counterfactuals, necessity and possibility, propositions, mental and linguistic content, to name a few, are often stated or analyzed in terms of possible worlds. What should we make of all this possible worlds talk? Should we take it as the literal truth? Is there really a possible world in which I am a concert violist? If so, then what sorts of things are possible worlds?
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | None. | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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In almost any area of contemporary philosophy that you study, you will eventually encounter talk of possible worlds. Physicalism, naturalism in ethics, counterfactuals, necessity and possibility, propositions, mental and linguistic content, to name a few, are often stated or analyzed in terms of possible worlds. What should we make of all this possible worlds talk? Should we take it as the literal truth? Is there really a possible world in which I am a concert violist? If so, then what sorts of things are possible worlds? Are they concrete spacetimes like the actual world? Or are they abstract representations such as sets of sentences or numbers? Or perhaps, all this possible worlds talk is a useful fiction that philosophers participate in and, strictly speaking, there are no such things. Or perhaps it's not really the best way of capturing our modal talk and should be abandoned. In this course, we will consider these questions. We will look at parts of David Lewis's influential book On the Plurality of Worlds as well as work by Adams, Bennett, Bricker, Chisholm, Divers, van Inwagen, Kripke, Melia, Plantinga, Rosen, and Vetter
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
1st Attempt: two 3500 word essays (50% each).
Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours.
Written on essay and essay marking sheet; office hours.
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