Worlds and Individuals, Possible and Otherwise

by Takashi Yagisawa

Overview

Modal realism says that non-actual possible worlds and individuals are as real as the actual world and individuals. Takashi Yagisawa defends modal realism of a variety different from David Lewis's theory. The notion of reality is left primitive and sharply distinguished from that of existence, which is proposed as a relation between a thing and a domain. Worlds are postulated as modal indices for truth on a par with times, which are temporal indices for truth. Ordinary individual objects are conceived as being extended in spatial, temporal, and modal dimensions and their transworld identity is explicated by the closest-continuer theory. Impossible worlds and individuals are postulated and used to provide accounts of propositions, belief sentences, and fictional discourse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199576890
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/01/2010
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Takashi Yagisawa is Professor and Chair of Philosophy at California State University, Northridge.

Table of Contents

Introduction1. Modal Realism2. Time, Space, World3. Existence4. Actuality5. Modal Realism and Modal Tense6. Transworld Individuals and Their Identity7. Extensionalism8. Impossibility9. Proposition and Belief10. Fictional Worlds11. EpistemologyBibliographyIndex