Combining Texts

Ideas for 'works', 'Conceptual truth and metaphysical necessity' and 'The Advancement of Learning'

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4 ideas

10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 4. Necessity from Concepts
The necessity of a proposition concerns reality, not our words or concepts [Stalnaker]
     Full Idea: The necessity or contingency of a proposition has nothing to do with our concepts or the meanings of our words. The possibilities would have been the same even if we had never conceived of them.
     From: Robert C. Stalnaker (Conceptual truth and metaphysical necessity [2003], 1)
     A reaction: This sounds in need of qualification, since some of the propositions will be explicitly about words and concepts. Still, I like this idea.
Conceptual possibilities are metaphysical possibilities we can conceive of [Stalnaker]
     Full Idea: Conceptual possibilities are just (metaphysical) possibilities that we can conceive of.
     From: Robert C. Stalnaker (Conceptual truth and metaphysical necessity [2003], 1)
10. Modality / D. Knowledge of Modality / 3. A Posteriori Necessary
Critics say there are just an a priori necessary part, and an a posteriori contingent part [Stalnaker]
     Full Idea: Critics say there are no irreducible a posteriori truths. They can be factored into a part that is necessary, but knowable a priori through conceptual analysis, and a part knowable only a posteriori, but contingent. 2-D semantics makes this precise.
     From: Robert C. Stalnaker (Conceptual truth and metaphysical necessity [2003], 1)
     A reaction: [Critics are Sidelle, Jackson and Chalmers] Interesting. If gold is necessarily atomic number 79, or it wouldn't be gold, that sounds like an analytic truth about gold. Discovering the 79 wasn't a discovery of a necessity. Stalnaker rejects this idea.
10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 1. Possible Worlds / a. Possible worlds
A 'centred' world is an ordered triple of world, individual and time [Stalnaker]
     Full Idea: A 'centred' possible world is an ordered triple consisting of a possible world, an individual in the domain of that world, and a time.
     From: Robert C. Stalnaker (Conceptual truth and metaphysical necessity [2003], 2)