Propositional contingentism and possible worlds

Synthese 200 (5):1-34 (2022)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Propositional contingentism is the view that what propositions there are is a contingent matter—certain propositions ontologically depend on objects which themselves only contingently exist. Possible worlds are, loosely, complete ways the world could have been. That is to say, the ways in which everything in its totality could have been. Propositional contingentists make use of possible worlds frequently. However, a neglected, but important, question concerns whether there are any notions of worlds which are both theoretically adequate and consistent with propositional contingentism. Some notion of a possible world is adequate if the systematic connection between, at least, possibility and truth at some possible world holds. Here, I argue that no adequate notion of a possible world is available to at least those who subscribe to one natural formulation of propositional contingentism. I also show that this result contrasts with a simple and adequate definition of a possible world available to the necessitist—those who hold that necessarily everything necessarily exists.

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Contingentism and fragile worlds.Christopher James Masterman - forthcoming - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy.
Some Ways the Ways the World Could Have Been Can’t Be.Christopher James Masterman - 2024 - Journal of Philosophical Logic 53 (4):997-1025.
Metaphysical Contingentism.Kristie Miller - 2020 - In Ricki Bliss & James Miller (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Metametaphysics. New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 405-420.
Propositional Contingentism.Peter Fritz - 2016 - Review of Symbolic Logic 9 (1):123-142.
Intensional type theory for higher-order contingentism.Peter Fritz - 2015 - Dissertation, University of Oxford
Logics for propositional contingentism.Peter Fritz - 2017 - Review of Symbolic Logic 10 (2):203-236.
On Possibility and Possible Worlds.Tony Daniel Roy - 1991 - Dissertation, University of California, Davis
Adequacy Results for Some Priorean Modal Propositional Logics.Fabrice Correia - 1999 - Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 40 (2):236-249.
Reply to Dana Scott, “Is There Life on Possible Worlds?”.David Lewis - 2015 - In Barry Loewer & Jonathan Schaffer (eds.), A companion to David Lewis. Chichester, West Sussex ;: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 18–21.

Analytics

Added to PP
2022-09-27

Downloads
464 (#52,548)

6 months
146 (#28,145)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Christopher James Masterman
University of St. Andrews

Citations of this work

Serious Actualism and Nonexistence.Christopher James Masterman - 2024 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy (3):658-674.
Contingentism and fragile worlds.Christopher James Masterman - forthcoming - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Modal Logic as Metaphysics.Timothy Williamson - 2013 - Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
The Nature of Necessity.Alvin Plantinga - 1974 - Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Principles of mathematics.Bertrand Russell - 1931 - New York,: W.W. Norton & Company.
Past, present and future.Arthur N. Prior - 1967 - Oxford,: Clarendon P..
The Principles of Mathematics.Bertrand Russell - 1903 - Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 11 (4):11-12.

View all 63 references / Add more references