Abstract

In this thesis, I am going to delve into the intersection of metaphysics, logic and language. I divided my work into two distinct parts. In Part I, I deal with Nathan Salmon’s modal paradox (originally called by him The Four World Paradox). In Part II, I deal with ontological realism and formal languages, paying particular attention to the formal language of standard first-order predicate logic. Chapters 1 (Salmon’s Modal Paradox), 2 (Solving Salmon’s Modal Paradox) and 3 (The Revenge of Salmon’s Modal Paradox) tackle a modal paradox raised by Salmon, which is a paradox about origin essentialism in modal contexts. In Chapters 4 (Ontological Realism and the Linguistic View), 4 (Ontological Realism and the Language-first Methodology), and 5 (Ontological Realism and First-order Predicate Logic) I analyze ontological realism and the methodological role that logic and formal languages should play within this metaontological perspective.