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Single Idea 9200

[from 'Intro to 'Modality and Tense'' by Kit Fine, in 10. Modality / A. Necessity / 11. Denial of Necessity ]

Full Idea

Empiricists have always been suspicious of modal notions: the world is an on-or-off matter - either something happens or it does not. ..Empiricists, in so far as they have been able to make sense of modality, have tended to see it as a form of regularity.

Gist of Idea

Empiricists suspect modal notions: either it happens or it doesn't; it is just regularities.

Source

Kit Fine (Intro to 'Modality and Tense' [2005], p. 1)

Book Reference

Fine,Kit: 'Modality and Tense' [OUP 2005], p.1


A Reaction

Fine is discussing the two extreme views of Quine and Lewis. It is one thing to have views about what is possible, and another to include possibilities 'in your ontology'. Our imagination competes with our extrapolations from actuality.