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    If the cost of eliminating modality is positing infinitel... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Lewis's concretist modal realism can accommodate the robust truth of accidental properties without contradiction.

    If the cost of eliminating modality is positing infinitely many causally isolated concrete universes, Occam's razor favors modal primitivism as the more parsimonious account of accidental properties.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Positing infinitely many concrete universes multiplies entities beyond necessity, violating Occam's razor more severely than positing irreducible modal facts.
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    • 2.Modal primitives require no commitment to unobservable causally-isolated domains, making them empirically more conservative than modal realism.
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    • 3.Modal primitivism explains accidental properties directly without the explanatory detour through branching universes, achieving greater elegance.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Modal primitives are metaphysically opaque—positing irreducible possibility is less explanatory than grounding modality in concrete structural facts.
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    • 2.Infinitely many universes may violate no principle if they cost nothing metaphysically (e.g., if abstract or not causally efficacious in our universe).
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    • 3.Occam's razor compares theories by explanatory power and evidential support, not merely entity count; modal realism may better satisfy this standard.
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    Key Terms

    Causally isolated(as used in metaphysics)
    Completely separate from each other in terms of cause and effect—one thing cannot influence or create the other, even if they happen at the same time.
    Concrete universes(as used in metaphysics)
    Physically real, actual worlds or realities (as opposed to abstract or imaginary ones).
    Modal primitivism(as used in metaphysics)
    The philosophical view that possibility and necessity are basic, fundamental features of reality that can't be reduced to anything simpler.
    Occam's Razor(Philosophy of science)
    A principle favoring more ontologically parsimonious theories over less parsimonious ones.
    Parsimonious(as used in philosophy of science and logic)
    Simple and avoiding unnecessary complexity; preferring the explanation that requires the fewest assumptions or extra moving parts.
    accidental properties(Aristotelian substance theory)
    Properties of an object that can be gained and lost over time and which the object might never have possessed at all
    modality(Used in the context of modal ontological arguments where accessibility relations between possible worlds determine what is possible or necessary)
    Talk of possibility and necessity

    Connections

    1 topic

    Modality & Possibility1 linked

    Related

    Infinitely many universes may violate no principle if they cost nothing metaphys...Lewis's concretist modal realism can accommodate the robust truth of accidental ...Modal primitives are metaphysically opaque—positing irreducible possibility is l...Modal primitives require no commitment to unobservable causally-isolated domains...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    +3 moreShow less
    Modal primitivism explains accidental properties directly without the explanator...Occam's razor compares theories by explanatory power and evidential support, not...Positing infinitely many concrete universes multiplies entities beyond necessity...