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Properties, laws, and worlds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Deborah C. Smith
Deborah C. Smith*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Kent State University, Kent, OH44242, USA
*
*Email: dcsmith1@kent.edu
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Abstract

Jonathan Schaffer argues against a necessary connection between properties and laws. He takes this to be a question of what possible worlds we ought to countenance in our best theories of modality, counterfactuals, etc. In doing so, he unfairly rigs the game in favor of contingentism. I argue that the necessitarian can resist Schaffer’s conclusion while accepting his key premise that our best theories of modality, counterfactuals, etc. require a very wide range of things called ‘possible worlds’. However, the necessitarian can and should insist that, in many cases, these worlds are not metaphysically possible. I will further argue that, having taken such a stance, the necessitarian has additional resources to respond to Schaffer’s other arguments against the view.

Keywords

Propertieslawsquidditismpossible worldsimpossible worldsnecessitarianismcontingentism
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Philosophy , Volume 45 , Issue 4 , August 2015 , pp. 471 - 489
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Journal of Philosophy 2015

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