more from Timothy Williamson

Single Idea 14531

[catalogued under 10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 1. Sources of Necessity]

Full Idea

Instead of regarding counterfactuals as conditionals restricted to a range of possible worlds, we can define the necessity operator by means of counterfactuals. Metaphysical necessity is a special case of ordinary counterfactual thinking.

Gist of Idea

Rather than define counterfactuals using necessity, maybe necessity is a special case of counterfactuals

Source

report of Timothy Williamson (Modal Logic within Counterfactual Logic [2010]) by Bob Hale/ Aviv Hoffmann - Introduction to 'Modality' 2

Book Reference

'Modality', ed/tr. Hale,B/Hoffman,A [OUP 2010], p.10


A Reaction

[compressed] I very much like Williamson's approach, of basing these things on the ordinary way that ordinary people think. To me it is a welcome inclusion of psychology into metaphysics, which has been out in the cold since Frege.