Ideas from 'Possible Worlds' by Robert C. Stalnaker [1976], by Theme Structure

[found in 'The Possible and the Actual' (ed/tr Loux,Michael J.) [Cornell 1979,0-8014-9178-9]].

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10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 2. Nature of Possible Worlds / a. Nature of possible worlds
We can take 'ways things might have been' as irreducible elements in our ontology
                        Full Idea: Stalnaker suggests talking 'ways things might have been' as sui generis elements of our ontology - actual abstract entities in their own right, not to be reduced to more familiar items.
                        From: report of Robert C. Stalnaker (Possible Worlds [1976]) by William Lycan - The Trouble with Possible Worlds 09
                        A reaction: This seems to rest on an ontology of 'states of affairs', favoured by Armstrong, and implied in the Tractatus. How big is a state of affairs? How manys states of affairs can be co-present?