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Single Idea 16079

[filed under theme 10. Modality / A. Necessity / 4. De re / De dicto modality ]

Full Idea

Lewis is perhaps the most prominent proponent of the view that de re modal predicates are ambiguous.

Gist of Idea

De re modal predicates are ambiguous

Source

report of David Lewis (Survival and Identity, with postscript [1983]) by Lynne Rudder Baker - Why Constitution is not Identity n25

Book Ref

-: 'Journal of Philosophy' [-], p.610


The 14 ideas with the same theme [modes of reality, or modes of statement about it]:

A deduction is necessary if the major (but not the minor) premise is also necessary [Aristotle]
The de dicto-de re modality distinction dates back to Abelard [Abelard, by Orenstein]
To be necessarily greater than 7 is not a trait of 7, but depends on how 7 is referred to [Quine]
A de dicto necessity is true in all worlds, but not necessarily of the same thing in each world [Cresswell]
Expressing modality about a statement is 'de dicto'; expressing it of property-possession is 'de re' [Plantinga]
'De dicto' true and 'de re' false is possible, and so is 'de dicto' false and 'de re' true [Plantinga]
Can we find an appropriate 'de dicto' paraphrase for any 'de re' proposition? [Plantinga]
'De re' modality is as clear as 'de dicto' modality, because they are logically equivalent [Plantinga]
De re modal predicates are ambiguous [Lewis, by Rudder Baker]
De dicto necessity has linguistic entities as their source, so it is a type of de re necessity [Shalkowski]
De re modal formulae, unlike de dicto, are sensitive to transworld identities [Forbes,G]
De re modality seems to apply to objects a concept intended for sentences [Burgess]
Evaluation of de dicto modalities does not depend on the identity of its objects [Sidelle]
'De re' modality is about things themselves, 'de dicto' modality is about propositions [Melia]