Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Possibility, philosophy: something is possible if it cannot be excluded. This has to be distinguished from the concept of contingency that expresses that something could have been different._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Robert Stalnaker on Possibility - Dictionary of Arguments
I 8 Def possibility/Stalnaker: a possibility is a way in which the world can be - but just as the concept of truth does not say what is true and that of existence what exists, the term possibility does not say which possibilities there are. >Description levels, >Possible worlds/Stalnaker. I 66 Possibility/criterion/Lewis/Stalnaker: there is no criterion for possibility. Solution: to understand what is possible rather than to decide about it, e.g. whether water could have been something else than H2O. Ultimately a possibility is about understanding expressions - not about the status of worlds (possible world or impossible world). >Impossible world. I 170 Possibility/Stalnaker: a possibility can only be described by way of its possible implementation. >Description. I 171 It is useful to distinguish options from the language in which they are being described. It is not excluded that one thing can be reduced to the other in the end. >Language dependence, >Description-dependence. I 172 Assertion: a main function of assertions is to transmit information by distinguishing between possibilities. >Assertions._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Stalnaker I R. Stalnaker Ways a World may be Oxford New York 2003 |
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> Counter arguments against Stalnaker
> Counter arguments in relation to Possibility
Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-16