Modal Realities and Possible Worlds with Prof. Jonathan Tallant

There could be a world where fluorescent blue chickens exist. It’s possible…
In this intriguing exploration, we dive into the realm of possible worlds and modal claims. Professor Jonathan Tallant explores why such possibilities matter and how they are grounded in philosophy.

Philosophical literature often uses modal claims—statements about what is possible or necessary. To tackle the complexity of these ideas, Tallant introduces us to David Lewis's theory of possible worlds. Lewis posits that for every conceivable way the world could be, there is a corresponding possible world. These worlds are concrete collections of spatiotemporally connected objects, providing a robust framework for understanding possibilities.

Prof. Tallant also discusses alternative views like linguistic ersatzism, which constructs possible worlds from properties, and propositionalism, which uses propositions to define possibilities. Finally, he touches on combinatorialism, which suggests that possible worlds are combinations of elements from the actual world.

Join Prof. Tallant as he unravels these fascinating theories, weighing their advantages and disadvantages, to better understand the nature of possibilities and the worlds they inhabit.

Prof. Tallant is the Subject Editor for Metaphsyics for the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy and an Associate Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Nottingham.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://www.rep.routledge.com

Metaphysics: https://www.rep.routledge.com/article...

Possible worlds: https://www.rep.routledge.com/article...

Twentieth-century philosophy: https://www.rep.routledge.com/article...

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