Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Living in a World of Possibilities: Real Possibility, Possible Worlds, and Branching Time
Stockholm University, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Philosophy.
2020 (English)In: The Metaphysics of Time: Themes from Prior / [ed] Per Hasle, David Jakobsen, Peter Øhrstrøm, Aalborg: Aalborg Universitetsforlag, 2020, p. 343-363Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

We live in a world of possibilities, and there are many kinds of possibility. One popular way to conceive of possibilities is to view them as modal alternatives to actuality. Different kinds of possibility can then be distinguished in terms of their modal strength. However, not all kinds of possibility fit into this general scheme. In this paper, I will introduce the notion of real possibility into the vast landscape of possibilities and show that it requires a fundamental shift in perspective with respect to how actuality and possibility can be related: real possibilities constitute temporal alternatives for actuality rather than modal alternatives to actuality. I will discuss how this distinction bears on the formal representation of possibilities. The upshot is this: while possible worlds provide a perspicuous framework for modeling possibil- ities as modal alternatives to actuality, real possibilities—as temporal alternatives for actuality—are most adequately represented in Prior’s theory of branching time.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Aalborg: Aalborg Universitetsforlag, 2020. p. 343-363
Series
Logic and Philosophy of Time, ISSN 2596-4372 ; 4
Keywords [en]
(Real) Possibility, Actuality, Open Future, Possible Worlds, Branching Time
National Category
Philosophy
Research subject
Philosophy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-188265ISBN: 978-87-7210-724-0 (electronic)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-188265DiVA, id: diva2:1516051
Available from: 2021-01-11 Created: 2021-01-11 Last updated: 2022-02-25Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Authority records

Rumberg, Antje

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Rumberg, Antje
By organisation
Department of Philosophy
Philosophy

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

isbn
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

isbn
urn-nbn
Total: 260 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf