My Actuality, Possibility and Worlds book has now been released, in both hardcover and paperback. There is a table of contents and index here [PDF]. I have to say that Continuum did a very fine job producing this on a fast schedule.
So if K is the proposition "APW will be available for Kindle" and it is trivially true that ♦K <-> ¬■¬K, your not knowing K seems to entail your knowing ♦K in the metaphysical sense; but can your epistemic sense of "not to my knowledge" or "for all I know K is not the case" entail something in the physical/nomological sense in the same way?
It does not follow from your not knowing that K (¬■K)that you know ¬K (■¬K), only that you know ♦¬K in the physical sense... but, like I said, this seems to entail your knowing ♦K in the metaphysical sense as well.
Are there ever times when it is appropriate to make the jump, under these conditions (i.e. that you do not know K), from ♦K in the metaphysical sense to ♦K in the physical sense as well or can the most that can ever be said be ♦¬K in that sense?
If not, then isn't it a bit confusing to think that saying you do not have knowledge of K might have any functional value as a response to the question "any (physical) chance that K?" when it only limits the modal solution space by pointing out that there are at least some possible worlds for which ¬K obtains in the metaphysical sense, but where it may still be the case that every physically possible world that is accessible from this one is one in which ■¬K obtains in the physical sense?
(this is not a serious question, btw; just for fun)
@RigelRover: If you hold to Lewis's view of possible worlds, then I think the best thing you can do is not buy a copy. For, since there will only be a finite number of copies of APW, your purchase of it will actually be depriving someone else of buying it. That said, you might buy APW and repent of your Lewisian tendencies, so maybe it will work out alright for you in the end...
13 comments:
Congratulations Alex!
Gratulacje!
I put it on my Amazon wish list. I hope I live in the world that will allow me to read everything on my wish list. :)
Yay! Thanks for the book! I should be getting it 24 May :-)
im getting this one right away.
Any chance it will be available for Kindle?
Not to my knowledge, though I queried the publisher about Kindle.
So if K is the proposition "APW will be available for Kindle" and it is trivially true that ♦K <-> ¬■¬K, your not knowing K seems to entail your knowing ♦K in the metaphysical sense; but can your epistemic sense of "not to my knowledge" or "for all I know K is not the case" entail something in the physical/nomological sense in the same way?
It does not follow from your not knowing that K (¬■K)that you know ¬K (■¬K), only that you know ♦¬K in the physical sense... but, like I said, this seems to entail your knowing ♦K in the metaphysical sense as well.
Are there ever times when it is appropriate to make the jump, under these conditions (i.e. that you do not know K), from ♦K in the metaphysical sense to ♦K in the physical sense as well or can the most that can ever be said be ♦¬K in that sense?
If not, then isn't it a bit confusing to think that saying you do not have knowledge of K might have any functional value as a response to the question "any (physical) chance that K?" when it only limits the modal solution space by pointing out that there are at least some possible worlds for which ¬K obtains in the metaphysical sense, but where it may still be the case that every physically possible world that is accessible from this one is one in which ■¬K obtains in the physical sense?
(this is not a serious question, btw; just for fun)
@RigelRover: If you hold to Lewis's view of possible worlds, then I think the best thing you can do is not buy a copy. For, since there will only be a finite number of copies of APW, your purchase of it will actually be depriving someone else of buying it. That said, you might buy APW and repent of your Lewisian tendencies, so maybe it will work out alright for you in the end...
Has anyone got a copy from Amazon yet? They are now saying it'll take 10-12 days to order.
Dr. Pruss: I'm getting my copy today in the mail :D
Mr. Pruss Is it somehow based on your PhD Thesis?
Yes.
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