PHIL 3011: Philosophy of Possibility and Necessity

Just about every day we talk about different things that are possible. When we do so, we often mean different things - whether it’s that things could have turned out other than they currently are, that we don’t know what the truth is (either now or in the future), or simply that some things can happen. Philosophers can often be heard to discuss “possible worlds” in logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and so on. The flip side of possibility is necessity. Analytic philosophers in particular employ “necessity” with relative frequency. But what does any of this mean?In this class, we will address the nature of possibility and necessity in both historical and contemporary philosophical discourse.


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