Description
Book SynopsisAndrea Borghini is Associate Professor in Philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross, USA.
Trade ReviewBorghini’s book is a stellar introduction ... It will be accessible to upper-level undergraduates, yet it is the most up-to-date guidebook around, making it worthwhile for specialists as well. * Australasian Journal of Philosophy *
Borghini’s introductory textbook is a useful and thorough reading for anyone interested in the current analytic-philosophical theories of and approaches to modality ... [An] up-to-date and comprehensive survey. * Croatian Journal of Philosophy *
The concept of
possible world - arguably the single most useful notion of contemporary philosophy - triggers a number of epistemological, semantic, and above all metaphysical questions. This book introduces to, and discusses, all the main contemporary answers to such questions. It provides a clear survey of mainstream and widely discussed views such as ersatzism and Lewisian modal realism. But it also guides us through the most recent approaches, such as modal fictionalism, agnosticism, and new actualism. This makes of it the most up-to-date introduction to the philosophy and metaphysics of modality on the market. Highly recommended. -- Franz Berto, Structural Chair of Metaphysics, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Framing the Debate 1.The Metaphysics of Modality: a Historical Overview 2. Modal Skepticism and Modal Expressivism 3. Modalism 4.Modal Realism 5.Ersatzism 6.Modal Fictionalism and Modal Agnosticism 7.The New Modal Actualism 8. Abstract Necessities Bibliography Index
