"A team composed entirely of pigeons could have defeated the Eagles in the Super Bowl" is false because it's difficult to imagine a possible world where creatures that could be described as "pigeons" are sufficiently dexterous to throw and catch touchdown passes. ![]() "The Patriots could have won the Super Bowl" means there's at least one possible world where they did. Similarly, we want to be able to say that "a team composed entirely of pigeons could have defeated the Eagles in the Super Bowl" is false, because of basic facts about pigeons' anatomy and proficiency with footballs.īut what parts of reality do these statements correspond to? In Lewis's view, they describe what life is like in other possible worlds. ![]() It was a close game where each team got lucky a lot. But what about a statement like, "The Patriots could have won the Super Bowl"? We want to be able to say that that's true. That's easy enough for simple descriptive statements. "Mont Blanc is 15,780 feet tall" is true if and only if there's a mountain called Mont Blanc that is, in fact, 15,780 feet tall. The basic reason is that common sense says (there are some notable dissenting views) that for something to be true, it has to reflect something about reality. The obvious thing to ask at this point is why anyone would believe this batshit crazy theory. The possible worlds are as real as anything Each of these worlds is equally real as the one we're in now. There's a world where La La Land beat Moonlight and I watched The Americans last night and a world where Beyoncé beat Beck and I watched Pretty Little Liars. Indeed, there are countless worlds of each. So there are worlds where the South won the Civil War and worlds where Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford went through with their wacky plan to be co-presidents and worlds where La La Land really did beat Moonlight at last year's Oscars. Every one of them is just as real, in fact, as the world we're in now. That's the argument my friend and National University of Singapore philosopher Neil Sinhababu makes in his seminal paper "Possible Girls." All you need to do to buy it is endorse a fun little theory called "modal realism." Developed by the great American philosopher David Kellogg Lewis in various papers and the book On the Plurality of Worlds, modal realism holds that every possible world - every combination of events that could have ever transpired - is real. You may think you don't have a partner, but there are countless people out there right now who are in love with you, specifically. It's a truly magical time.īut if you're uncoupled this year, I come bearing good news. ![]() Happy Valentine's Day, which, our culture has decided, means that all you people in relationships should be pulling together stressfully extravagant date nights and all you singles should feel left out and morose.
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