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The Bounds of Possibility

Puzzles of Modal Variation

Juhani Yli-Vakkuri author John Hawthorne author Cian Dorr author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:1st Nov '21

Should be back in stock very soon

The Bounds of Possibility cover

In general, a given object could have been different in certain respects. For example, the Great Pyramid could have been somewhat shorter or taller; the Mona Lisa could have had a somewhat different pattern of colours; an ordinary table could have been made of a somewhat different quantity of wood. But there seem to be limits. It would be odd to suppose that the Great Pyramid could have been thimble-sized; that the Mona Lisa could have had the pattern of colours that actually characterizes The Scream; or that the table could have been made of the very quantity of wood that in fact made some other table. However, there are puzzling arguments that purport to show that so long as an object is capable of being somewhat different in some respect, it is capable of being radically different in that respect. These arguments rely on two tempting thoughts: first, that an object's capacity for moderate variation is a non-contingent matter, and second, that what is possibly possible is simply possible. The Bounds of Possibility systematically investigates competing strategies for resolving these puzzles, and defends one of them. Along the way it engages with foundational questions about the metaphysics of modality.

For any philosopher with a special interest in tolerance puzzles or the interpretation of de re modality, the book should be required reading. * The Journal of Philosophy *

ISBN: 9780192846655

Dimensions: 245mm x 164mm x 30mm

Weight: 788g

448 pages