Combining Philosophers

Ideas for William James, Graeme Forbes and Sextus Empiricus

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2 ideas

10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 4. Necessity from Concepts
De re necessity is a form of conceptual necessity, just as de dicto necessity is [Forbes,G]
     Full Idea: De re necessity does not differ from de dicto necessity in respect of how it arises: it is still a form of conceptual necessity.
     From: Graeme Forbes (The Metaphysics of Modality [1985], 9.4)
     A reaction: [Forbes proceeds to argue for this claim] Forbes defends a form of essentialism, but takes the necessity to arise from a posteriori truths because of the a priori involvement of other concepts (rather as Kripke argues).
The source of de dicto necessity is not concepts, but the actual properties of the thing [Forbes,G]
     Full Idea: It is widely held that the source of de dicto necessity is in concepts, ..but I deny this... even with simple de dicto necessities, the source of the necessity is to be found in the properties to which the predicates of the de dicto truth refer.
     From: Graeme Forbes (In Defense of Absolute Essentialism [1986], 3)
     A reaction: It is normal nowadays to say this about de re necessities, but this is more unusual.