Single Idea 11978

[catalogued under 10. Modality / A. Necessity / 7. Natural Necessity]

Full Idea

Just as a sentence is necessary if it holds in all worlds, so it is causally necessary if it holds in all worlds compatible with the laws of nature.

Gist of Idea

Causal necessities hold in all worlds compatible with the laws of nature

Source

David Lewis (Counterpart theory and Quant. Modal Logic [1968], V)

Book Reference

Lewis,David: 'Philosophical Papers Vol.1' [OUP 1983], p.37


A Reaction

I don't believe in the so-called 'laws of nature', so I'm not buying that. Is there no distinction in Lewis's view between those sentences which must hold, and those which happen to hold universally?