The Actual and the Possible: Modality and Metaphysics in Modern Philosophy (Mind Association Occasional Series)

The Actual and the Possible presents new essays by leading specialists on modality and the metaphysics of modality in the history of modern philosophy from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. It revisits key moments in the history of modern modal doctrines, and illuminates lesser-known moments of that history. The ultimate purpose of this historical approach is to contextualise and even to offer some alternatives to dominant positions within the contemporary philosophy of modality. Hence the volume contains not only new scholarship on the early-modern doctrines of Baruch Spinoza, G. W. F. Leibniz, Christian Wolff and Immanuel Kant, but also work relating to less familiar nineteenth-century thinkers such as Alexius Meinong and Jan Lukasiewicz, together with essays on celebrated nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers such as G. W. F. Hegel, Martin Heidegger and Bertrand Russell, whose modal doctrines have not previously garnered the attention they deserve. The volume thus covers a variety of traditions, and its historical range extends to the end of the twentieth century, addressing the legacy of W. V. Quine's critique of modality within recent analytic philosophy. Cover 1 The Actual and the Possible: Modality and Metaphysics in Modern Philosophy 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Note on the Contributors 10 Editor ́s Introduction 12 Bibliography 20 1: Aspects of Spinoza ́s Theory of Essence: Formal Essence, Non-Existence, and Two Types of Actuality 22 1.1 Platonizing Spinoza 27 1.2 Formal Essence 35 1.3 Existence and Non-existence 38 1.4 Actual Essence 44 1.5 Two Types of Actuality 47 1.6 Conclusion (and Tackling the Definition of Eternity) 50 Bibliography 53 2: Wolff ́s Close Shave with Fatalism 56 2.1 Wolff ́s Definitions of Modal Terms 58 2.2 Involving a Contradiction: A Closer Look 60 2.3 Absolute and Hypothetical Necessity 65 2.4 Fatalism versus Contingentism 67 2.5 Wolff ́s Analysis of Propositions and the Possibility of Aliens 70 Bibliography 73 3: Modal Adventures between Leibniz and Kant: Existence and (Temporal, Logical, Real) Possibilities 75 3.1 Leibniz on Possibility 79 3.1.1 Possibilities as thoughts 80 3.1.2 Possibilities as consistent thoughts 82 3.1.3 Consistent thoughts, complex concepts and simple constituents 84 3.1.4 Prima possibilitas and God ́s attributes 86 3.2 Leibniz on Existence 87 3.3 Kant ́s Pre-Critical Period: Existence and Logical Possibility in the `Beweisgrund ́ (1763) 91 3.4 Kant ́s Critical Period: Existence and Real Possibility 95 3.5 Conclusion 99 A note on the method of citation 102 Abbreviations 102 Bibliography 103 4: Kant ́s Material Condition of Real Possibility 105 4.1 Kant on Cognition 106 4.2 Kant on Logical and Real Possibility 109 4.3 A Material Condition of Possibility? 113 4.4 Supplementing the Postulate of Possibility 124 Bibliography 126 5: Hegel ́s Expressivist ModalRealism 128 5.1 Modal Realism 128 5.2 Rejected Views 131 5.3 Convergence of the Modalities 133 5.4 Two Modal Illusions 137 5.5 Subjective and Objective Modality 140 Bibliography 145 6: Russell on Modality 147 6.1 Early Writings: 1897-1904 148 6.2 `Necessity and Possibility ́ 159 6.3 Later Writings 166 6.4 `The Philosophy of Logical Atomism ́ 171 6.5 Constructing Possibilities 176 Bibliography 179 7: Modality and Degrees of Truth: An Austro-Polish Sideline in Twentieth-Century Modal Thought 181 7.1 Meinong on Probability 183 7.2 or Rather, Possibility 187 7.3 Many-Valued Meinong 188 7.4 Łukasiewicz on Future Contingents 189 7.5 Łukasiewicz ́s Second Thoughts on Modality 192 7.6 Why Łukasiewicz Could (and Should) Have Known Better 193 7.7 Conclusion 195 Bibliography 195 8: Heidegger on `Possibility ́ 197 8.1 Handiness and Being-Possible 200 8.2 Dasein ́s Movedness as Being-Possible 204 8.3 Temporality and the Modality of History 210 8.4 Death as the Possibility of Impossibility 215 8.5 Possibility as Hidden Appropriateness 219 8.6 Conclusion: Being as Possibility in the Later Heidegger 223 Bibliography 225 9: De Re Modality in the Late Twentieth Century: The Prescient Quine 228 9.1 Quine ́s Scepticism 228 9.2 Quine ́s Case for Scepticism 230 9.3 Strategies of Responses to Quine ́s Case for Scepticism 232 9.4 Quine on the Language-independence Strategy 235 9.5 Kripke 236 9.6 Lewis 238 9.7 Fine 242 9.8 Conclusion 244 Bibliography 245 Index 248 This volume offers a selection of essays by leading specialists on modality and the metaphysics of modality in the history of modern philosophy, from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. It revisits key moments in the history of modern modal doctrines, and illuminates lesser-known moments of that history. With this historical approach, the book aims to contextualize and even to offer alternatives to dominant positions within the contemporary philosophy of modality. Hence the volume contains not only new scholarship on the early-modern doctrines of Baruch Spinoza, G. W. Leibniz, Christian Wolff, and Immanuel Kant, but also work relating to less familiar nineteenth-century thinkers such as Alexius Meinong and Jan Łukasiewicz, together with essays on celebrated nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers such as G. W. F. Hegel, Martin Heidegger, and Bertrand Russell, whose modal doctrines have not previously garnered the attention they deserve. The volume thus covers a variety of traditions, and its historical range extends to the end of the twentieth century, since it addresses the legacy of Willard Van Orman Quine’s critique of modality within recent analytic philosophy. The Actual And The Possible Presents New Essays By Leading Specialists On Modality And The Metaphysics Of Modality In The History Of Modern Philosophy From The Seventeenth To The Twentieth Centuries. It Revisits Key Moments In The History Of Modern Modal Doctrines, And Illuminates Lesser-known Moments Of That History. Aspects Of Spinoza's Theory Of Essence: Formal Essence, Non-existence And Two Types Of Actuality / Mogens Laerke -- Wolff's Close Shave With Fatalism / Stephan Leuenberger -- Modal Adventures After Leibniz: Existence And (temporal, Logical, Real) Possibilities / Ohad Nachtomy -- Kant's Material Condition Of Real Possibility / Jessica Leech -- Hegel's Expressivist Modal Realism / Christopher Yeomans -- Russell On Modality / Thomas Baldwin -- Modality And Degrees Of Truth: An Austro-polish Sideline In 20th-century Modal Thought / Peter Simons -- Heidegger On 'possibility' / Mark Sinclair -- De Re Modality In The Late 20th Century: The Prescient Quine / John Divers. Edited By Mark Sinclair. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.