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Full Idea
We should remind ourselves the 'possible worlds' terminology can always be replaced by modal talk, such as "It is possible that…"
Gist of Idea
Instead of talking about possible worlds, we can always say "It is possible that.."
Source
Saul A. Kripke (Naming and Necessity preface [1980], p.15)
Book Ref
Kripke,Saul: 'Naming and Necessity' [Blackwell 1980], p.15
A Reaction
Coming from an originator of the possible worlds idea, this is a useful reminder that we don't have to get too excited about the ontological commitments involved. It may be just a 'way to talk', and hence a tool, rather than a truth about reality.
| 16981 | With the necessity of self-identity plus Leibniz's Law, identity has to be an 'internal' relation [Kripke] |
| 4942 | The indiscernibility of identicals is as self-evident as the law of contradiction [Kripke] |
| 16982 | A man has two names if the historical chains are different - even if they are the same! [Kripke] |
| 9385 | The very act of designating of an object with properties gives knowledge of a contingent truth [Kripke] |
| 4943 | Instead of talking about possible worlds, we can always say "It is possible that.." [Kripke] |
| 16983 | Probability with dice uses possible worlds, abstractions which fictionally simplify things [Kripke] |
| 16985 | Possible worlds allowed the application of set-theoretic models to modal logic [Kripke] |
| 16984 | I don't think possible worlds reductively reveal the natures of modal operators etc. [Kripke] |