Two Kinds of Logical Impossibility

Alexander Sandgren, Koji Tanaka

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    17 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In this paper, we argue that a distinction ought to be drawn between two ways in which a given world might be logically impossible. First, a world w might be impossible because the laws that hold at w are different from those that hold at some other world (say the actual world). Second, a world w might be impossible because the laws of logic that hold in some world (say the actual world) are violated at w. We develop a novel way of modelling logical possibility that makes room for both kinds of logical impossibility. Doing so has interesting implications for the relationship between logical possibility and other kinds of possibility (for example, metaphysical possibility) and implications for the necessity or contingency of the laws of logic.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)795-806
    Number of pages12
    JournalNous
    Volume54
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2020

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