Knowing how things might have been
I know that I could have been where you are right now and that you could have been where I am right now, but that neither of us could have been turnips or natural numbers. This knowledge of metaphysical modality stands in need of explanation. I will offer an account based on our knowledge of the nat...
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| Format: | Article |
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Springer
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53057/ |
| _version_ | 1848798867736231936 |
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| author | Jago, Mark |
| author_facet | Jago, Mark |
| author_sort | Jago, Mark |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | I know that I could have been where you are right now and that you could have been where I am right now, but that neither of us could have been turnips or natural numbers. This knowledge of metaphysical modality stands in need of explanation. I will offer an account based on our knowledge of the natures, or essences, of things. I will argue that essences need not be viewed as metaphysically bizarre entities; that we can conceptualise and refer to essences; and that we can gain knowledge of them. We can know about which properties are, and which properties are not, essential to a given entity. This knowledge of essence offers a route to knowledge of the ways those entities must be or could be. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:26:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-53057 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:26:36Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-530572020-05-04T19:35:42Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53057/ Knowing how things might have been Jago, Mark I know that I could have been where you are right now and that you could have been where I am right now, but that neither of us could have been turnips or natural numbers. This knowledge of metaphysical modality stands in need of explanation. I will offer an account based on our knowledge of the natures, or essences, of things. I will argue that essences need not be viewed as metaphysically bizarre entities; that we can conceptualise and refer to essences; and that we can gain knowledge of them. We can know about which properties are, and which properties are not, essential to a given entity. This knowledge of essence offers a route to knowledge of the ways those entities must be or could be. Springer 2018-07-14 Article PeerReviewed Jago, Mark (2018) Knowing how things might have been. Synthese . ISSN 1573-0964 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11229-018-1869-6 doi:10.1007/s11229-018-1869-6 doi:10.1007/s11229-018-1869-6 |
| spellingShingle | Jago, Mark Knowing how things might have been |
| title | Knowing how things might have been |
| title_full | Knowing how things might have been |
| title_fullStr | Knowing how things might have been |
| title_full_unstemmed | Knowing how things might have been |
| title_short | Knowing how things might have been |
| title_sort | knowing how things might have been |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53057/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53057/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53057/ |