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Single Idea 11086

[filed under theme 10. Modality / A. Necessity / 5. Metaphysical Necessity ]

Full Idea

Weak metaphysical necessity is either over the set of all logically possible worlds (in which case it is the same as logical necessity), or it is of a smaller set of worlds, and is determined by the underlying essence or nature of the actual world.

Gist of Idea

Metaphysical necessity can be 'weak' (same as logical) and 'strong' (based on essences)

Source

Robert Hanna (Rationality and Logic [2006], 6.6)

Book Ref

Hanna,Robert: 'Rationality and Logic' [MIT 2006], p.196


A Reaction

I take the first to be of no interest, as I have no interest in a world which is somehow rated as logically possible, but is not naturally possible. The second type should the principle aim of all human cognitive enquiry. The strong version is synthetic.


The 29 ideas with the same theme [inescapable necessity as a feature of reality]:

The first way of enquiry involves necessary existence [Parmenides]
Metaphysical necessity holds between things in the world and things they make true [Ellis]
If something is possible, but not nomologically possible, we need metaphysical possibility [Shoemaker]
We understand metaphysical necessity intuitively, from ordinary life [Soames]
There are more metaphysically than logically necessary truths [Soames]
Metaphysical necessity is said to be unrestricted necessity, true in every world whatsoever [Salmon,N]
Bizarre identities are logically but not metaphysically possible, so metaphysical modality is restricted [Salmon,N]
Without impossible worlds, the unrestricted modality that is metaphysical has S5 logic [Salmon,N]
In the S5 account, nested modalities may be unseen, but they are still there [Salmon,N]
Metaphysical necessity is NOT truth in all (unrestricted) worlds; necessity comes first, and is restricted [Salmon,N]
Strong metaphysical necessity allows fewer possible worlds than logical necessity [Chalmers]
Metaphysical necessity is a bizarre, brute and inexplicable constraint on possibilities [Chalmers]
Metaphysical necessity may be 'whatever the circumstance', or 'regardless of circumstances' [Fine,K]
Metaphysical possibility is discovered empirically, and is contrained by nature [Edgington]
Metaphysical necessity is logical necessity 'broadly construed' [Lowe, by Lynch/Glasgow]
'Metaphysical' necessity is absolute and objective - the strongest kind of necessity [Lowe]
Is 'Hesperus = Phosphorus' metaphysically necessary, but not logically or epistemologically necessary? [Segal]
Metaphysical necessity says there is no possibility of falsehood [Hale]
Maybe metaphysical accessibility is intransitive, if a world in which I am a frog is impossible [Sider]
Metaphysical necessity is absolute and universal; metaphysical possibility is very tolerant [Rosen]
'Metaphysical' modality is the one that makes the necessity or contingency of laws of nature interesting [Rosen]
Sets, universals and aggregates may be metaphysically necessary in one sense, but not another [Rosen]
Standard Metaphysical Necessity: P holds wherever the actual form of the world holds [Rosen]
Non-Standard Metaphysical Necessity: when ¬P is incompatible with the nature of things [Rosen]
The excellent notion of metaphysical 'necessity' cannot be defined [Rosen]
Logically impossible is metaphysically impossible, but logically possible is not metaphysically possible [Maudlin]
Metaphysical necessity can be 'weak' (same as logical) and 'strong' (based on essences) [Hanna]
Metaphysical modalities respect the actual identities of things [Rumfitt]
Metaphysical necessity is even more deeply empirical than Kripke has argued [Vetter]