Modality

 

[under development]

 

The modalities

 

Necessity

Impossibility

Possibility

Non-necessity (!)

Contingency

 

[@Carnap]

 

 

[Motivation]

 

A very common mistake: to conclude to the contingency of (the truth of) a judgement or the realisation of a state of affairs merely from the assumptions that some (!) necessity is absent. This is  a mistake because there are a variety of 'necessities', and the absence of one type does not regularly include the absence of all the others.

 

xxx EXAMPLES!

 

 

The object of modalities (bearer question)

 

(a) Necessary realisation of states of affairs

(b) Necessary truth/falsity of judgements

Instances of (b) may be determined by instances of (a). 

?? May we view (b) as a subtype of (a)?[*Any relevance?]

 

 

All modalities led back to necessity

 

o Non-necessity

o Possibility = non-necessity of alternative

o Impossibility = non-possibility

o Contingency = possibility + non-necessity 

 

 

The relevance of modality (examples)

 

o Necessary/contingent truth; possibility of truth

o Necessary/contingent; possible/impossible existence

o Necessary/contingent course (event)

o Necessary/contingent co-occurrence (supervenience; emergence; grounding; ...)