Counterpart theory and counterfactuals

Book chapter

Hawthorne, John and Yli-Vakkuri, Juhani. (2023). Counterpart theory and counterfactuals. In In Bennett, Karen and Zimmerman, Dean W. (Ed.). Oxford studies in metaphysics ; volume 13 pp. 129-165 Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192886033.003.0005
AuthorsHawthorne, John and Yli-Vakkuri, Juhani
EditorsBennett, Karen and Zimmerman, Dean W.
Abstract

In 1968, David Lewis provided a translation scheme from the language of quantified modal logic (QML) into the language of counterpart theory (CT), one that he thought would make manifest the truth conditions of absolute or metaphysical modal claims. Lewis’s other main contribution to the logic and semantics of modality is his celebrated 1973 semantics for counterfactual conditionals, which is put forward as a more general theory that subsumes the logic of metaphysical modality. It is natural for the advocate of CT to wish to extend Lewis’s 1968 translation scheme for QML to a language that includes the counterfactual conditional connective. This chapter first examines the translation of QML to counterpart theory proposed by Lewis in 1973, making vivid various challenges that confront anyone wishing to marry counterpart theory with a logic of counterfactuals. It then proposes a superior translation scheme within the framework of Lewis’s own counterpart theory.

KeywordsDavid Lewis; counterpart theory; modal logic; counterfactuals; counterfactual logic; modal realism; metaphysical necessity
Page range129-165
Year2023
Book titleOxford studies in metaphysics ; volume 13
PublisherOxford University Press
Place of publicationOxford, United Kingdom
ISBN9780191980985
9780192886033
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192886033.003.0005
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85152324176
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Output statusPublished
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Online23 Feb 2023
Print2023
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Deposited06 Jun 2023
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