On the Plurality of Worlds / Edition 1

by David Lewis

Overview

This book is a defense of modal realism; the thesis that our world is but one of a plurality of worlds, and that the individuals that inhabit our world are only a few out of all the inhabitants of all the worlds. Lewis argues that the philosophical utility of modal realism is a good reason for believing that it is true.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780631224266
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	02/08/2001
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	301,566
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

David Lewis (1941- 2001) was Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University. His publications include Convention (reissued by Blackwell 2002), Counterfactuals (reissued by Blackwell 2000), Parts of Classes (1991), and of numerous articles in metaphysics and other areas. Many of his writings are available in his Collected Papers.

Table of Contents

Preface.

1. A Philosopher's Paradise.

The Thesis of Pluraliry of Worlds.

Modal Realism at Work: Modality.

Modal Realism at Work: Closeness.

Modal Realism at Work: Content.

Modal Realism at Work: Properties.

Isolation.

Concreteness.

Plenitude.

Actuality.

2. Paradox in Paradise?.

Everything is Actual?.

All Worlds in One?.

More Worlds Than There Are?.

How Can We Know?.

A Road to Scepticism?.

A Road to Indifference?.

Arbitrariness Lost?.

The Incredulous Stare.

3. Paradise on the Cheap?.

The Ersatzist Program.

Linguistic Ersatzism.

Pictorial Ersatzism.

Magical Ersatzism.

4. Counterparts or Double Lives?.

Good Questions and Bad.

Against Overlap.

Against Trans-World Individuals.

Against Haecceitism.

Against Constancy.

Works Cited.

Index.