Concept tag
#modal-realism
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Are possible worlds real, or just a bookkeeping device?
David Lewis, in On the Plurality of Worlds (1986), argued that other possible worlds are just as real as ours. "Actual" is indexical, like "here". Our world is actual only in the sense that we are in it. Almost nobody follows him…
Started by Tomasz Szewczak1 reply -
The incredulous stare is a perfectly respectable argument against modal realism
I have been reading the threads on Lewis and his infinitely many concrete worlds. I am told the standard response, the "incredulous stare", is not an argument, and that Lewis himself said so. I want to defend the stare. Doctors routinely reject…
Started by Alistair Gow5 replies -
Reading group: David Lewis, On the Plurality of Worlds (1986), chapters 1–4
Most people meet modal realism as a punchline: the man who believed every possible world is as real as ours. I want to read the book properly, because the argument is far better than its reputation, and because I think most of…
Started by Tomasz Szewczak6 replies