CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Possible world - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy", "wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"3337cf7b-0d07-4fba-94e4-328eeaadbdb6","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Possible_world","wgTitle":"Possible world","wgCurRevisionId":1241008838,"wgRevisionId":1241008838,"wgArticleId":780566,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Articles with short description","Short description is different from Wikidata","Articles with Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy links","Articles with Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy links","Possible world","Possibility","Modal logic","Semantics","Linguistics","Concepts in logic","Conceptual modelling","Interpretation (philosophy)"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Possible_world","wgRelevantArticleId" :780566,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":20000,"wgRelatedArticlesCompat":[],"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q1088088","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"], "GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.math.styles":"ready","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","ext.scribunto.logs","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher", "ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession","wikibase.sidebar.tracking"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.math.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.4"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Possible world - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possible_world"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possible_world"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Possible_world rootpage-Possible_world skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Possible+world" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Possible+world" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Possible+world" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Possible+world" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Logic" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Logic"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Logic</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Logic-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Argument_from_ways" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Argument_from_ways"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Argument from ways</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Argument_from_ways-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Philosophical_issues_and_applications" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Philosophical_issues_and_applications"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Philosophical issues and applications</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Philosophical_issues_and_applications-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Philosophical issues and applications subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Philosophical_issues_and_applications-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Metaphysics" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Metaphysics"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Metaphysics</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Metaphysics-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Explicating_necessity_and_possibility" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Explicating_necessity_and_possibility"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>Explicating necessity and possibility</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Explicating_necessity_and_possibility-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Other_uses" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Other_uses"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3</span> <span>Other uses</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Other_uses-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-History_of_the_concept" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#History_of_the_concept"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>History of the concept</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-History_of_the_concept-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Possible world</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 22 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-22" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">22 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85_%D9%85%D9%85%D9%83%D9%86" title="عالم ممكن – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="عالم ممكن" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B3n_possible" title="Món possible – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Món possible" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulig_verden" title="Mulig verden – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Mulig verden" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6gliche_Welt" title="Mögliche Welt – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Mögliche Welt" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B5imalik_maailm" title="Võimalik maailm – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Võimalik maailm" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundo_posible" title="Mundo posible – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Mundo posible" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eu mw-list-item"><a href="https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundu_posible" title="Mundu posible – Basque" lang="eu" hreflang="eu" data-title="Mundu posible" data-language-autonym="Euskara" data-language-local-name="Basque" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Euskara</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%85%D9%85%DA%A9%D9%86" title="جهان ممکن – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="جهان ممکن" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondes_possibles" title="Mondes possibles – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Mondes possibles" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EA%B0%80%EB%8A%A5%EC%84%B8%EA%B3%84%EB%A1%A0" title="가능세계론 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="가능세계론" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondo_possibile" title="Mondo possibile – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Mondo possibile" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehets%C3%A9ges_vil%C3%A1gok" title="Lehetséges világok – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="Lehetséges világok" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8F%AF%E8%83%BD%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E8%AB%96" title="可能世界論 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="可能世界論" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9Awiat_mo%C5%BCliwy" title="Świat możliwy – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Świat możliwy" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundo_poss%C3%ADvel" title="Mundo possível – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Mundo possível" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sk mw-list-item"><a href="https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo%C5%BEn%C3%BD_svet" title="Možný svet – Slovak" lang="sk" hreflang="sk" data-title="Možný svet" data-language-autonym="Slovenčina" data-language-local-name="Slovak" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenčina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ckb mw-list-item"><a href="https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%DB%8C%DA%BE%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C_%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%88" title="جیھانی لواو – Central Kurdish" lang="ckb" hreflang="ckb" data-title="جیھانی لواو" data-language-autonym="کوردی" data-language-local-name="Central Kurdish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>کوردی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%83%D1%9B%D0%B8_%D1%81%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82" title="Могући свет – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Могући свет" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdolliset_maailmat" title="Mahdolliset maailmat – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Mahdolliset maailmat" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6jlig_v%C3%A4rld" title="Möjlig värld – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Möjlig värld" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%81%D0%B2%D1%96%D1%82" title="Можливий світ – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Можливий світ" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8F%AF%E8%83%BD%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C" title="可能世界 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="可能世界" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q1088088#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Possible_world" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Possible_world" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Possible_world"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Possible_world"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Possible_world" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Possible_world" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&oldid=1241008838" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Possible_world&id=1241008838&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPossible_world"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPossible_world"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Possible_world&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q1088088" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Concept of philosophy and logic used to express modal claims</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">"Possible worlds" redirects here. For other uses, see <a href="/wiki/Possible_Worlds_(disambiguation)" class="mw-redirect mw-disambig" title="Possible Worlds (disambiguation)">Possible Worlds</a>.</div> <p>A <b>possible world</b> is a complete and consistent way the world is or could have been. Possible worlds are widely used as a formal device in <a href="/wiki/Logic" title="Logic">logic</a>, <a href="/wiki/Philosophy" title="Philosophy">philosophy</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Linguistics" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a> in order to provide a semantics for <a href="/wiki/Intensional_logic" title="Intensional logic">intensional</a> and <a href="/wiki/Modal_logic" title="Modal logic">modal logic</a>. Their <a href="/wiki/Metaphysics" title="Metaphysics">metaphysical</a> status has been a subject of controversy in <a href="/wiki/Philosophy" title="Philosophy">philosophy</a>, with <a href="/wiki/Modal_realism" title="Modal realism">modal realists</a> such as <a href="/wiki/David_Lewis_(philosopher)" title="David Lewis (philosopher)">David Lewis</a> arguing that they are literally existing alternate realities, and others such as <a href="/wiki/Robert_Stalnaker" title="Robert Stalnaker">Robert Stalnaker</a> arguing that they are not. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Logic">Logic</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Logic"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Modal_logic#Semantics" title="Modal logic">Modal logic § Semantics</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Intensional_logic" title="Intensional logic">Intensional logic</a></div> <p>Possible worlds are one of the foundational concepts in <a href="/wiki/Modal_logic" title="Modal logic">modal</a> and <a href="/wiki/Intensional_logic" title="Intensional logic">intensional logics</a>. Formulas in these logics are used to represent statements about what <i>might</i> be true, what <i>should</i> be true, what one <i>believes</i> to be true and so forth. To give these statements a formal interpretation, logicians use structures containing possible worlds. For instance, in the <a href="/wiki/Relational_semantics" class="mw-redirect" title="Relational semantics">relational semantics</a> for classical propositional modal logic, the formula <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \Diamond P}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>◊</mi> <mi>P</mi> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \Diamond P}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/c11ced51ad343c329a468b33e5139a99306fd0b6" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.505ex; width:3.296ex; height:2.343ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \Diamond P}"></span> (read as "possibly P") is actually true if and only if <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle P}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>P</mi> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle P}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/b4dc73bf40314945ff376bd363916a738548d40a" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.745ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle P}"></span> is true in some world which is <i>accessible</i> from the actual world. </p><p>Possible worlds play a central role in the work of both linguists and/or philosophers working in <a href="/wiki/Formal_semantics_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Formal semantics (linguistics)">formal semantics</a>. Contemporary formal semantics is couched in formal systems rooted in <a href="/wiki/Montague_grammar" title="Montague grammar">Montague grammar</a>, which is itself built on <a href="/wiki/Richard_Montague" title="Richard Montague">Richard Montague</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Intensional_logic" title="Intensional logic">intensional logic</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Contemporary research in semantics typically uses possible worlds as formal tools without committing to a particular theory of their metaphysical status. The term <i>possible world</i> is retained even by those who attach no metaphysical significance to them. </p><p>In the field of <a href="/wiki/Database_theory" title="Database theory">database theory</a>, possible worlds are also a notion used in the setting of <a href="/wiki/Uncertain_database" title="Uncertain database">uncertain databases</a> and <a href="/wiki/Probabilistic_database" title="Probabilistic database">probabilistic databases</a>, which serve as a <a href="/wiki/Succinct_data_structure" title="Succinct data structure">succinct</a> representation of a large number of possible worlds.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Argument_from_ways">Argument from ways</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Argument from ways"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Possible worlds are often regarded with suspicion, which is why their proponents have struggled to find arguments in their favor.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> An often-cited argument is called the <i>argument from ways</i>. It defines possible worlds as "ways things could have been" and relies for its premises and inferences on assumptions from <a href="/wiki/Natural_language" title="Natural language">natural language</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-Laan_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Laan-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Berto_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Berto-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> for example: </p> <ol><li>The <a href="/wiki/Black_Death" title="Black Death">Black Death</a> could have killed 99% of the European population, rather than the estimated 25 to 60%.</li> <li>So there are other ways things could have been.</li> <li>Possible worlds are ways things could have been.</li> <li>So there are other possible worlds.</li></ol> <p>The central step of this argument happens at <i>(2)</i> where the plausible <i>(1)</i> is interpreted in a way that involves <a href="/wiki/Quantification_(logic)" class="mw-redirect" title="Quantification (logic)">quantification</a> over "ways". Many philosophers, following <a href="/wiki/Willard_Van_Orman_Quine" title="Willard Van Orman Quine">Willard Van Orman Quine</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> hold that quantification entails <a href="/wiki/Ontological_commitment" title="Ontological commitment">ontological commitments</a>, in this case, a commitment to the existence of possible worlds. Quine himself restricted his method to scientific theories, but others have applied it also to natural language, for example, <a href="/wiki/Amie_Thomasson" title="Amie Thomasson">Amie L. Thomasson</a> in her paper entitled <i>Ontology Made Easy</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The strength of the <i>argument from ways</i> depends on these assumptions and may be challenged by casting doubt on the quantifier-method of ontology or on the reliability of natural language as a guide to ontology. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Philosophical_issues_and_applications">Philosophical issues and applications</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Philosophical issues and applications"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Metaphysics">Metaphysics</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Metaphysics"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Modal_logic#Metaphysical_questions" title="Modal logic">Modal logic § Metaphysical questions</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Modal_realism" title="Modal realism">Modal realism</a></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Ontology" title="Ontology">ontological</a> status of possible worlds has provoked intense debate. <a href="/wiki/David_Lewis_(philosopher)" title="David Lewis (philosopher)">David Lewis</a> famously advocated for a position known as <a href="/wiki/Modal_realism" title="Modal realism">modal realism</a>, which holds that possible worlds are real, concrete places which exist in the exact same sense that the actual world exists. On Lewis's account, the actual world is special only in that we live there. This doctrine is called <i>the indexicality of actuality</i> since it can be understood as claiming that the term "actual" is an <a href="/wiki/Indexicality" title="Indexicality">indexical</a>, like "now" and "here". Lewis gave a variety of arguments for this position. He argued that just as the reality of atoms is demonstrated by their explanatory power in physics, so too are possible worlds justified by their explanatory power in philosophy. He also argued that possible worlds must be real because they are simply "ways things could have been" and nobody doubts that such things exist. Finally, he argued that they could not be reduced to more "ontologically respectable" entities such as maximally consistent sets of propositions without rendering theories of modality circular. (He referred to these theories as "ersatz modal realism" which try to get the benefits of possible worlds semantics "on the cheap".)<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Modal realism is controversial. <a href="/wiki/W.V._Quine" class="mw-redirect" title="W.V. Quine">W.V. Quine</a> rejected it as "metaphysically extravagant".<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Stalnaker responded to Lewis's arguments by pointing out that a way things could have been is not itself a world, but rather a property that such a world can have. Since properties can exist without them applying to any existing objects, there's no reason to conclude that other worlds like ours exist. Another of Stalnaker's arguments attacks Lewis's <i>indexicality theory of actuality</i>. Stalnaker argues that even if the English word "actual" is an indexical, that doesn't mean that other worlds exist. For comparison, one can use the indexical "I" without believing that other people actually exist.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Some philosophers instead endorse the view of possible worlds as maximally consistent sets of propositions or descriptions, while others such as <a href="/wiki/Saul_Kripke" title="Saul Kripke">Saul Kripke</a> treat them as purely <i>formal</i> (i.e. mathematical) devices.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Explicating_necessity_and_possibility">Explicating necessity and possibility</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Explicating necessity and possibility"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>At least since Aristotle, philosophers have been greatly concerned with the logical statuses of propositions, e.g. necessity, contingency, and impossibility. In the twentieth century, possible worlds have been used to explicate these notions. In modal logic, a proposition is understood in terms of the <i>worlds in which it is true</i> and <i>worlds in which it is false</i>. Thus, equivalences like the following have been proposed: </p> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Truth" title="Truth">True propositions</a></i> are those that are <i>true in the actual world</i> (for example: "<a href="/wiki/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria" title="Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria">Archduke Franz Ferdinand</a> was assassinated in 1914").</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Deception" title="Deception">False propositions</a></i> are those that are <i>false in the actual world</i> (for example: "Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 2014").</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Logical_possibility" title="Logical possibility">Possible propositions</a></i> are those that are <i>true in at least one possible world</i> (for example: "Archduke Franz Ferdinand survived the assassination attempt against him in 1914"). This includes propositions which are necessarily true, in the sense below.</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Contradiction" title="Contradiction">Impossible propositions</a></i> (or <i>necessarily false propositions</i>) are those that are <i>true in no possible world</i> (for example: "Melissa and Toby are taller than each other at the same time").</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Logical_truth" title="Logical truth">Necessarily true propositions</a></i> (often simply called <i>necessary propositions</i>) are those that are <i>true in all possible worlds</i> (for example: "2 + 2 = 4"; "all bachelors are unmarried").<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Contingency_(philosophy)" title="Contingency (philosophy)">Contingent propositions</a></i> are those that are <i>true in some possible worlds and false in others</i> (for example: "Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914" is <i>contingently true</i> and "Archduke Franz Ferdinand survived the assassination attempt against him in 1914" is <i>contingently false</i>).</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Other_uses">Other uses</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Other uses"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Possible worlds play a central role in many other debates in philosophy. These include debates about the <a href="/wiki/Philosophical_zombie" title="Philosophical zombie">Zombie Argument</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Physicalism" title="Physicalism">physicalism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Supervenience" title="Supervenience">supervenience</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Philosophy_of_mind" title="Philosophy of mind">philosophy of mind</a>. Many debates in the <a href="/wiki/Philosophy_of_religion" title="Philosophy of religion">philosophy of religion</a> have been reawakened by the use of possible worlds. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History_of_the_concept">History of the concept</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: History of the concept"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The idea of possible worlds is most commonly attributed to <a href="/wiki/Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibniz" title="Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz">Gottfried Leibniz</a>, who spoke of possible worlds as ideas in the mind of <a href="/wiki/God" title="God">God</a> and used the notion to argue that our actually created world must be "the <a href="/wiki/Best_of_all_possible_worlds" title="Best of all possible worlds">best of all possible worlds</a>". <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer" title="Arthur Schopenhauer">Arthur Schopenhauer</a> argued that on the contrary our world must be the worst of all possible worlds, because if it were only a little worse it could not continue to exist.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Scholars have found implicit earlier traces of the idea of possible worlds in the works of <a href="/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes" title="René Descartes">René Descartes</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> a major influence on Leibniz, <a href="/wiki/Al-Ghazali" title="Al-Ghazali">Al-Ghazali</a> (<i><a href="/wiki/The_Incoherence_of_the_Philosophers" title="The Incoherence of the Philosophers">The Incoherence of the Philosophers</a></i>), <a href="/wiki/Averroes" title="Averroes">Averroes</a> (<i><a href="/wiki/The_Incoherence_of_the_Incoherence" title="The Incoherence of the Incoherence">The Incoherence of the Incoherence</a></i>),<sup id="cite_ref-Kukkonen_17-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Kukkonen-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Fakhr_al-Din_al-Razi" title="Fakhr al-Din al-Razi">Fakhr al-Din al-Razi</a> (<i>Matalib al-'Aliya</i>),<sup id="cite_ref-Setia_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Setia-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Duns_Scotus" title="Duns Scotus">John Duns Scotus</a><sup id="cite_ref-Kukkonen_17-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Kukkonen-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and Antonio Rubio (<i>Commentarii in libros Aristotelis Stagiritae de Coelo</i>).<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The modern philosophical use of the notion was pioneered by <a href="/wiki/David_Lewis_(philosopher)" title="David Lewis (philosopher)">David Lewis</a> and <a href="/wiki/Saul_Kripke" title="Saul Kripke">Saul Kripke</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Standard_translation" title="Standard translation">Standard translation</a>, an embedding of modal logics into <a href="/wiki/First-order_logic" title="First-order logic">first-order logic</a> which captures their possible world semantics</li> <li><a href="/wiki/N-universes" title="N-universes">N-universes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modal_fictionalism" title="Modal fictionalism">Modal fictionalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fictionalism" title="Fictionalism">Fictionalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Impossible_world" title="Impossible world">Impossible world</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modal_realism" title="Modal realism">Modal realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Extended_modal_realism" title="Extended modal realism">Extended modal realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alternate_history" title="Alternate history">Alternate history</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Molinism" title="Molinism">Molinism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Multiverse" title="Multiverse">Multiverse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Other_worlds_strategy" class="mw-redirect" title="Other worlds strategy">Other worlds strategy</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation conference cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=biyclc">"Formal Semantics: Origins, Issues, Early Impact"</a>. <i>Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication</i>. This Proceeding of the Symposium for Cognition, Logic and Communication. Vol. 6. 2011.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=conference&rft.atitle=Formal+Semantics%3A+Origins%2C+Issues%2C+Early+Impact&rft.btitle=Baltic+International+Yearbook+of+Cognition%2C+Logic+and+Communication&rft.date=2011&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fnewprairiepress.org%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1056%26context%3Dbiyclc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSuciuOlteanuReKoch2022" class="citation book cs1">Suciu, Dan; Olteanu, Dan; Re, Christopher; Koch, Christoph (2022-05-31). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=dYdyEAAAQBAJ&dq=probabilistic+databases+book&pg=PP1"><i>Probabilistic Databases</i></a>. Springer Nature. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-031-01879-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-3-031-01879-4"><bdi>978-3-031-01879-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Probabilistic+Databases&rft.pub=Springer+Nature&rft.date=2022-05-31&rft.isbn=978-3-031-01879-4&rft.aulast=Suciu&rft.aufirst=Dan&rft.au=Olteanu%2C+Dan&rft.au=Re%2C+Christopher&rft.au=Koch%2C+Christoph&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DdYdyEAAAQBAJ%26dq%3Dprobabilistic%2Bdatabases%2Bbook%26pg%3DPP1&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span> See section 1.2.2, "Possible Worlds Semantics"</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLewis1973" class="citation book cs1">Lewis, David K. (1973). "4. Foundations". <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://philpapers.org/rec/LEWC-2"><i>Counterfactuals</i></a>. Blackwell.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=4.+Foundations&rft.btitle=Counterfactuals&rft.pub=Blackwell&rft.date=1973&rft.aulast=Lewis&rft.aufirst=David+K.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fphilpapers.org%2Frec%2FLEWC-2&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Laan-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Laan_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLaan1997" class="citation journal cs1">Laan, David A. Vander (1997). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://philpapers.org/rec/VANTOO">"The Ontology of Impossible Worlds"</a>. <i>Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic</i>. <b>38</b> (4): 597–620. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1305%2Fndjfl%2F1039540772">10.1305/ndjfl/1039540772</a></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Notre+Dame+Journal+of+Formal+Logic&rft.atitle=The+Ontology+of+Impossible+Worlds&rft.volume=38&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=597-620&rft.date=1997&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1305%2Fndjfl%2F1039540772&rft.aulast=Laan&rft.aufirst=David+A.+Vander&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fphilpapers.org%2Frec%2FVANTOO&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Berto-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Berto_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBertoJago2018" class="citation encyclopaedia cs1">Berto, Francesco; Jago, Mark (2018). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/impossible-worlds/">"Impossible Worlds"</a>. <i>The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</i>. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">14 November</span> 2020</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Impossible+Worlds&rft.btitle=The+Stanford+Encyclopedia+of+Philosophy&rft.pub=Metaphysics+Research+Lab%2C+Stanford+University&rft.date=2018&rft.aulast=Berto&rft.aufirst=Francesco&rft.au=Jago%2C+Mark&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fplato.stanford.edu%2Fentries%2Fimpossible-worlds%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMenzel2017" class="citation encyclopaedia cs1">Menzel, Christopher (2017). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/possible-worlds/">"Possible Worlds"</a>. <i>The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</i>. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">14 November</span> 2020</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Possible+Worlds&rft.btitle=The+Stanford+Encyclopedia+of+Philosophy&rft.pub=Metaphysics+Research+Lab%2C+Stanford+University&rft.date=2017&rft.aulast=Menzel&rft.aufirst=Christopher&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fplato.stanford.edu%2Fentries%2Fpossible-worlds%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFQuine1948" class="citation journal cs1">Quine, Willard V. (1948). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://philpapers.org/rec/QUIOWT-11">"On What There Is"</a>. <i>Review of Metaphysics</i>. <b>2</b> (1): 21–38.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Review+of+Metaphysics&rft.atitle=On+What+There+Is&rft.volume=2&rft.issue=1&rft.pages=21-38&rft.date=1948&rft.aulast=Quine&rft.aufirst=Willard+V.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fphilpapers.org%2Frec%2FQUIOWT-11&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFThomasson2014" class="citation book cs1">Thomasson, Amie L. (2014). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://philpapers.org/rec/THOOME"><i>Ontology Made Easy</i></a>. Oup Usa. p. 248.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Ontology+Made+Easy&rft.pages=248&rft.pub=Oup+Usa&rft.date=2014&rft.aulast=Thomasson&rft.aufirst=Amie+L.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fphilpapers.org%2Frec%2FTHOOME&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLewis1973" class="citation book cs1">Lewis, David (1973). <i>Counterfactuals</i>. John Wiley & Sons.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Counterfactuals&rft.pub=John+Wiley+%26+Sons&rft.date=1973&rft.aulast=Lewis&rft.aufirst=David&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLewis1986" class="citation book cs1">Lewis, David (1986). <i>On the plurality of worlds</i>. Wiley-Blackwell.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=On+the+plurality+of+worlds.&rft.pub=Wiley-Blackwell&rft.date=1986&rft.aulast=Lewis&rft.aufirst=David&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Willard_Van_Orman_Quine" title="Willard Van Orman Quine">W. V. O. Quine</a>, <i>"Proportional Objects" in Ontological Relativity and Other Essays', 1969, pp.140-147</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFStalnaker1976" class="citation journal cs1">Stalnaker, Robert (1976). "Possible worlds". <i><a href="/wiki/No%C3%BBs" title="Noûs">Noûs</a></i>. <b>10</b> (1): 65–75. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2214477">10.2307/2214477</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2214477">2214477</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=No%C3%BBs&rft.atitle=Possible+worlds&rft.volume=10&rft.issue=1&rft.pages=65-75&rft.date=1976&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.2307%2F2214477&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F2214477%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft.aulast=Stalnaker&rft.aufirst=Robert&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKripke1972" class="citation book cs1">Kripke, Saul (1972). <i>Naming and necessity</i>. Harvard University Press.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Naming+and+necessity.&rft.pub=Harvard+University+Press&rft.date=1972&rft.aulast=Kripke&rft.aufirst=Saul&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See "A Priori and A Posteriori" (author: Jason S. Baehr), at <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/apriori/#H3">Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a></i>: "A necessary proposition is one the truth value of which remains constant across all possible worlds. Thus a necessarily true proposition is one that is true in every possible world, and a necessarily false proposition is one that is false in every possible world. By contrast, the truth value of contingent propositions is not fixed across all possible worlds: for any contingent proposition, there is at least one possible world in which it is true and at least one possible world in which it is false." Accessed 7 July 2012.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Arthur Schopenhauer, "Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung," supplement to the 4th book "Von der Nichtigkeit und dem Leiden des Lebens" p. 2222, see also R.B. Haldane and J. Kemp's translation <a class="external text" href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_as_Will_and_Representation/Supplements_to_the_Fourth_Book">"On the Vanity and Suffering of Life"</a> pp 395-6</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Nor could we doubt that, if God had created many worlds, they would not be as true in all of them as in this one. Thus those who could examine sufficiently the consequences of these truths and of our rules, could be able to discover effects by their causes, and, to explain myself in the language of the schools, they could have a priori demonstrations of everything that could be produced in this new world." -The World, Chapter VII</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Kukkonen-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Kukkonen_17-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Kukkonen_17-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFTaneli_Kukkonen2000" class="citation cs2">Taneli Kukkonen (2000), "Possible Worlds in the Tahâfut al-Falâsifa: Al-Ghazâlî on Creation and Contingency", <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_of_the_History_of_Philosophy" title="Journal of the History of Philosophy">Journal of the History of Philosophy</a></i>, <b>38</b> (4): 479–502, <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fhph.2005.0033">10.1353/hph.2005.0033</a>, <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:170995877">170995877</a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+the+History+of+Philosophy&rft.atitle=Possible+Worlds+in+the+Tah%C3%A2fut+al-Fal%C3%A2sifa%3A+Al-Ghaz%C3%A2l%C3%AE+on+Creation+and+Contingency&rft.volume=38&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=479-502&rft.date=2000&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1353%2Fhph.2005.0033&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A170995877%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft.au=Taneli+Kukkonen&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Setia-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Setia_18-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFAdi_Setia2004" class="citation cs2">Adi Setia (2004), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0QYQ/is_2_2/ai_n9532826/">"Fakhr Al-Din Al-Razi on Physics and the Nature of the Physical World: A Preliminary Survey"</a>, <i>Islam & Science</i>, <b>2</b><span class="reference-accessdate">, retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-03-02</span></span></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Islam+%26+Science&rft.atitle=Fakhr+Al-Din+Al-Razi+on+Physics+and+the+Nature+of+the+Physical+World%3A+A+Preliminary+Survey&rft.volume=2&rft.date=2004&rft.au=Adi+Setia&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Ffindarticles.com%2Fp%2Farticles%2Fmi_m0QYQ%2Fis_2_2%2Fai_n9532826%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFPadilla_Gálvez1948" class="citation journal cs1"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Padilla_G%C3%A1lvez&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Padilla Gálvez (page does not exist)">Padilla Gálvez, Jesús</a> (1948). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://summa.upsa.es/high.raw?id=0000092699&name=00000001.original.pdf">"The Best of all possible worlds"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Cuadernos Salmantinos de Filosofía</i>. <b>45</b> (1): 231–259.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Cuadernos+Salmantinos+de+Filosof%C3%ADa&rft.atitle=The+Best+of+all+possible+worlds&rft.volume=45&rft.issue=1&rft.pages=231-259&rft.date=1948&rft.aulast=Padilla+G%C3%A1lvez&rft.aufirst=Jes%C3%BAs&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fsumma.upsa.es%2Fhigh.raw%3Fid%3D0000092699%26name%3D00000001.original.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>D.M. Armstrong, <i>A World of States of Affairs</i> (1997. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-58948-7" title="Special:BookSources/0-521-58948-7">0-521-58948-7</a></li> <li>John Divers, <i>Possible Worlds</i> (2002. London: Routledge) <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-15556-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-415-15556-8">0-415-15556-8</a></li> <li>Paul Herrick, <i>The Many Worlds of Logic</i> (1999. Oxford: Oxford University Press) Chapters 23 and 24. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-515503-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-19-515503-7">978-0-19-515503-7</a></li> <li>David Lewis, <i><a href="/wiki/On_the_Plurality_of_Worlds" title="On the Plurality of Worlds">On the Plurality of Worlds</a></i> (1986. Oxford & New York: Basil Blackwell) <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-631-13994-X" title="Special:BookSources/0-631-13994-X">0-631-13994-X</a></li> <li>Michael J. Loux [ed.] <i>The Possible and the Actual</i> (1979. Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press) <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8014-9178-9" title="Special:BookSources/0-8014-9178-9">0-8014-9178-9</a></li> <li>G.W. Leibniz, <i>Theodicy</i> (2001. Wipf & Stock Publishers) <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-87548-437-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-87548-437-2">978-0-87548-437-2</a></li> <li>Brian Skyrms, "Possible Worlds, Physics and Metaphysics" (1976. Philosophical Studies 30)</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/possible-worlds/">"Possible Worlds"</a> entry in the <i><a href="/wiki/Stanford_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy" title="Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy">Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a></i></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://bearspace.baylor.edu/Alexander_Pruss/www/papers/PhilThesis.html">"Possible worlds: what they are good for and what they are"</a> — Alexander Pruss.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/possible-objects/">"Possible Objects"</a> entry in the <i><a href="/wiki/Stanford_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy" title="Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy">Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a></i></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/impossible-worlds/">"Impossible Worlds"</a> entry in the <i><a href="/wiki/Stanford_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy" title="Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy">Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a></i></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation encyclopaedia cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/impossible-worlds">"Impossible-Worlds"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Internet_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy" title="Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy">Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a></i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Impossible-Worlds&rft.btitle=Internet+Encyclopedia+of+Philosophy&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iep.utm.edu%2Fimpossible-worlds&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APossible+world" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1038841319">.mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1038841319"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1038841319"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1038841319"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox authority-control" aria-labelledby="Authority_control_databases_frameless&#124;text-top&#124;10px&#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata&#124;link=https&#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1088088#identifiers&#124;class=noprint&#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Authority_control_databases_frameless&#124;text-top&#124;10px&#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata&#124;link=https&#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1088088#identifiers&#124;class=noprint&#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Help:Authority_control" title="Help:Authority control">Authority control databases</a> <span class="mw-valign-text-top noprint" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1088088#identifiers" title="Edit this at Wikidata"><img alt="Edit this at Wikidata" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/10px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png" decoding="async" width="10" height="10" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/15px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/20px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="20" data-file-height="20" /></a></span></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">National</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="Mögliche Welt"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://d-nb.info/gnd/4205309-2">Germany</a></span></span></li><li><span class="uid"><span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="Mondes possibles"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb121601949">France</a></span></span></li><li><span class="uid"><span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="Mondes possibles"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://data.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb121601949">BnF data</a></span></span></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="Mondes possibles"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.idref.fr/030122902">IdRef</a></span></span></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Logic" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Logic" title="Template:Logic"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Logic" title="Template talk:Logic"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Logic" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Logic"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Logic" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Logic" title="Logic">Logic</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_logic" title="Outline of logic">Outline</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_logic" title="History of logic">History</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Major fields</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Logic_in_computer_science" title="Logic in computer science">Computer science</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Formal_semantics_(natural_language)" title="Formal semantics (natural language)">Formal semantics (natural language)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inference" title="Inference">Inference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philosophy_of_logic" title="Philosophy of logic">Philosophy of logic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Formal_proof" title="Formal proof">Proof</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Semantics_of_logic" title="Semantics of logic">Semantics of logic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syntax_(logic)" title="Syntax (logic)">Syntax</a></li></ul> </div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Logics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Classical_logic" title="Classical logic">Classical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Informal_logic" title="Informal logic">Informal</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Critical_thinking" title="Critical thinking">Critical thinking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reason" title="Reason">Reason</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mathematical_logic" title="Mathematical logic">Mathematical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Non-classical_logic" title="Non-classical logic">Non-classical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philosophical_logic" title="Philosophical logic">Philosophical</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Theories</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Argumentation_theory" title="Argumentation theory">Argumentation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Metalogic" title="Metalogic">Metalogic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Metamathematics" title="Metamathematics">Metamathematics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Set_theory" title="Set theory">Set</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Foundations</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Abductive_reasoning" title="Abductive reasoning">Abduction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Analytic%E2%80%93synthetic_distinction" title="Analytic–synthetic distinction">Analytic and synthetic propositions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Antecedent_(logic)" title="Antecedent (logic)">Antecedent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Consequent" title="Consequent">Consequent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Contradiction" title="Contradiction">Contradiction</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Paradox" title="Paradox">Paradox</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Antinomy" title="Antinomy">Antinomy</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deductive_reasoning" title="Deductive reasoning">Deduction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deductive_closure" title="Deductive closure">Deductive closure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Definition" title="Definition">Definition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Description" title="Description">Description</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logical_consequence" title="Logical consequence">Entailment</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Entailment_(linguistics)" title="Entailment (linguistics)">Linguistic</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logical_form" title="Logical form">Form</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inductive_reasoning" title="Inductive reasoning">Induction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logical_truth" title="Logical truth">Logical truth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Name" title="Name">Name</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Necessity_and_sufficiency" title="Necessity and sufficiency">Necessity and sufficiency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Premise" title="Premise">Premise</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Probability" title="Probability">Probability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proposition" title="Proposition">Proposition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reference" title="Reference">Reference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statement_(logic)" title="Statement (logic)">Statement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Substitution_(logic)" title="Substitution (logic)">Substitution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Truth" title="Truth">Truth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Validity_(logic)" title="Validity (logic)">Validity</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Lists</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Index_of_logic_articles" title="Index of logic articles">topics</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_mathematical_logic_topics" title="List of mathematical logic topics">Mathematical logic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Boolean_algebra_topics" title="List of Boolean algebra topics">Boolean algebra</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_set_theory_topics" title="List of set theory topics">Set theory</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;">other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_logicians" title="List of logicians">Logicians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_rules_of_inference" title="List of rules of inference">Rules of inference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_paradoxes" title="List of paradoxes">Paradoxes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_fallacies" title="List of fallacies">Fallacies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_logic_symbols" title="List of logic symbols">Logic symbols</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Socrates.png/18px-Socrates.png" decoding="async" width="18" height="28" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Socrates.png/27px-Socrates.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Socrates.png/36px-Socrates.png 2x" data-file-width="326" data-file-height="500" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Philosophy" title="Portal:Philosophy">Philosophy portal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Category:Logic" title="Category:Logic">Category</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Logic" title="Wikipedia:WikiProject Logic">WikiProject</a> (<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Logic" title="Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Logic">talk</a>)</li> <li><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Recentchangeslinked&target=Template:Logic&hidebots=0">changes</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Formal_semantics_(natural_language)" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Formal_semantics" title="Template:Formal semantics"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Formal_semantics" title="Template talk:Formal semantics"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Formal_semantics" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Formal semantics"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Formal_semantics_(natural_language)" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Formal_semantics_(natural_language)" title="Formal semantics (natural language)">Formal semantics (natural language)</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Central concepts</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Principle_of_compositionality" title="Principle of compositionality">Compositionality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Denotation" title="Denotation">Denotation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Entailment" class="mw-redirect" title="Entailment">Entailment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Extension_(semantics)" title="Extension (semantics)">Extension</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Generalized_quantifier" title="Generalized quantifier">Generalized quantifier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intension" title="Intension">Intension</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logical_form_(linguistics)" title="Logical form (linguistics)">Logical form</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Presupposition" title="Presupposition">Presupposition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proposition" title="Proposition">Proposition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reference" title="Reference">Reference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scope_(formal_semantics)" title="Scope (formal semantics)">Scope</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Speech_act" title="Speech act">Speech act</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syntax%E2%80%93semantics_interface" title="Syntax–semantics interface">Syntax–semantics interface</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Truth-conditional_semantics" title="Truth-conditional semantics">Truth conditions</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Topics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Areas</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anaphora_(linguistics)" title="Anaphora (linguistics)">Anaphora</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ambiguity" title="Ambiguity">Ambiguity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Binding_(linguistics)" title="Binding (linguistics)">Binding</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conditional_sentence" title="Conditional sentence">Conditionals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Definiteness" title="Definiteness">Definiteness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Disjunction" class="mw-redirect" title="Disjunction">Disjunction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evidentiality" title="Evidentiality">Evidentiality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Focus_(linguistics)" title="Focus (linguistics)">Focus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indexicality" title="Indexicality">Indexicality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lexical_semantics" title="Lexical semantics">Lexical semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Linguistic_modality" class="mw-redirect" title="Linguistic modality">Modality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Negation" title="Negation">Negation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Propositional_attitudes" class="mw-redirect" title="Propositional attitudes">Propositional attitudes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tense%E2%80%93aspect%E2%80%93mood" title="Tense–aspect–mood">Tense–aspect–mood</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quantifier_(logic)" title="Quantifier (logic)">Quantification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vagueness" title="Vagueness">Vagueness</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Phenomena</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Antecedent-contained_deletion" title="Antecedent-contained deletion">Antecedent-contained deletion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cataphora" title="Cataphora">Cataphora</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Coercion_(linguistics)" title="Coercion (linguistics)">Coercion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conservativity" title="Conservativity">Conservativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Counterfactuals" class="mw-redirect" title="Counterfactuals">Counterfactuals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crossover_effects" title="Crossover effects">Crossover effects</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cumulativity_(linguistics)" title="Cumulativity (linguistics)">Cumulativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/De_dicto_and_de_re" title="De dicto and de re">De dicto and de re</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/De_se" title="De se">De se</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deontic_modality" title="Deontic modality">Deontic modality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Discourse_relation" title="Discourse relation">Discourse relations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Donkey_anaphora" class="mw-redirect" title="Donkey anaphora">Donkey anaphora</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Epistemic_modality" title="Epistemic modality">Epistemic modality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Exhaustivity" title="Exhaustivity">Exhaustivity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Faultless_disagreement" title="Faultless disagreement">Faultless disagreement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Free_choice_inference" title="Free choice inference">Free choice inferences</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Givenness" title="Givenness">Givenness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Homogeneity_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Homogeneity (linguistics)">Homogeneity (linguistics)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hurford_disjunction" title="Hurford disjunction">Hurford disjunction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inalienable_possession" title="Inalienable possession">Inalienable possession</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intersective_modifier" title="Intersective modifier">Intersective modification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logophoricity" title="Logophoricity">Logophoricity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mirativity" title="Mirativity">Mirativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modal_subordination" title="Modal subordination">Modal subordination</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Opaque_context" title="Opaque context">Opaque contexts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Performative_utterance" title="Performative utterance">Performatives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Polarity_item" title="Polarity item">Polarity items</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Privative_adjective" title="Privative adjective">Privative adjectives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quantificational_variability_effect" title="Quantificational variability effect">Quantificational variability effect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Responsive_predicate" title="Responsive predicate">Responsive predicate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rising_declarative" title="Rising declarative">Rising declaratives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scalar_implicature" title="Scalar implicature">Scalar implicature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sloppy_identity" title="Sloppy identity">Sloppy identity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subsective_modifier" title="Subsective modifier">Subsective modification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subtrigging" title="Subtrigging">Subtrigging</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Telicity" title="Telicity">Telicity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Temperature_paradox" title="Temperature paradox">Temperature paradox</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Veridicality" title="Veridicality">Veridicality</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Formalism</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Formal systems</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Alternative_semantics" title="Alternative semantics">Alternative semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Categorial_grammar" title="Categorial grammar">Categorial grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Combinatory_categorial_grammar" title="Combinatory categorial grammar">Combinatory categorial grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Discourse_representation_theory" title="Discourse representation theory">Discourse representation theory (DRT)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dynamic_semantics" title="Dynamic semantics">Dynamic semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Generative_grammar" title="Generative grammar">Generative grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glue_semantics" title="Glue semantics">Glue semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inquisitive_semantics" title="Inquisitive semantics">Inquisitive semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intensional_logic" title="Intensional logic">Intensional logic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lambda_calculus" title="Lambda calculus">Lambda calculus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mereology" title="Mereology">Mereology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Montague_grammar" title="Montague grammar">Montague grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Segmented_discourse_representation_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Segmented discourse representation theory">Segmented discourse representation theory (SDRT)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Situation_semantics" title="Situation semantics">Situation semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supervaluationism" title="Supervaluationism">Supervaluationism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Type_theory" title="Type theory">Type theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Type_theory_with_records" title="Type theory with records">TTR</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Concepts</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Autonomy_of_syntax" title="Autonomy of syntax">Autonomy of syntax</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Context_set" class="mw-redirect" title="Context set">Context set</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Continuation" title="Continuation">Continuation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conversational_scoreboard" title="Conversational scoreboard">Conversational scoreboard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Downward_entailing" title="Downward entailing">Downward entailing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Existential_closure" title="Existential closure">Existential closure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Function_application" title="Function application">Function application</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Meaning_postulate" title="Meaning postulate">Meaning postulate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monad_(functional_programming)" title="Monad (functional programming)">Monads</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plural_quantification" title="Plural quantification">Plural quantification</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Possible world</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quantifier_raising" class="mw-redirect" title="Quantifier raising">Quantifier raising</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quantization_(linguistics)" title="Quantization (linguistics)">Quantization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Question_under_discussion" title="Question under discussion">Question under discussion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Semantic_parsing" title="Semantic parsing">Semantic parsing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Squiggle_operator" title="Squiggle operator">Squiggle operator</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strawson_entailment" title="Strawson entailment">Strawson entailment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strict_conditional" title="Strict conditional">Strict conditional</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Type_shifter" title="Type shifter">Type shifter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Universal_grinder" title="Universal grinder">Universal grinder</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">See also</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cognitive_semantics" title="Cognitive semantics">Cognitive semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Computational_semantics" title="Computational semantics">Computational semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Distributional_semantics" title="Distributional semantics">Distributional semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Formal_grammar" title="Formal grammar">Formal grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inferentialism" class="mw-redirect" title="Inferentialism">Inferentialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logic_translation" title="Logic translation">Logic translation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Linguistics_wars" title="Linguistics wars">Linguistics wars</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philosophy_of_language" title="Philosophy of language">Philosophy of language</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pragmatics" title="Pragmatics">Pragmatics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Semantics_of_logic" title="Semantics of logic">Semantics of logic</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&oldid=1241008838">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&oldid=1241008838</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Possible_world" title="Category:Possible world">Possible world</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Possibility" title="Category:Possibility">Possibility</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Modal_logic" title="Category:Modal logic">Modal logic</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Semantics" title="Category:Semantics">Semantics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Linguistics" title="Category:Linguistics">Linguistics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Concepts_in_logic" title="Category:Concepts in logic">Concepts in logic</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Conceptual_modelling" title="Category:Conceptual modelling">Conceptual modelling</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Interpretation_(philosophy)" title="Category:Interpretation (philosophy)">Interpretation (philosophy)</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_Stanford_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy_links" title="Category:Articles with Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy links">Articles with Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy links</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_Internet_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy_links" title="Category:Articles with Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy links">Articles with Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy links</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 18 August 2024, at 19:57<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Possible_world&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-br4qw","wgBackendResponseTime":173,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.438","walltime":"0.655","ppvisitednodes":{"value":3247,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":82434,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":2714,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":14,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":7,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":92544,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":1,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 530.526 1 -total"," 30.24% 160.405 1 Template:Reflist"," 24.36% 129.259 1 Template:Short_description"," 17.81% 94.500 1 Template:Authority_control"," 15.51% 82.269 17 Template:Main_other"," 14.68% 77.860 1 Template:SDcat"," 14.15% 75.056 1 Template:Cite_conference"," 10.81% 57.337 6 Template:ISBN"," 7.84% 41.574 6 Template:Navbox"," 7.21% 38.235 2 Template:Pagetype"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.265","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":5484875,"limit":52428800},"limitreport-logs":"table#1 {\n}\n"},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-api-ext.codfw.main-7556f8b5dd-q94f7","timestamp":"20241122141051","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Possible world","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Possible_world","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q1088088","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q1088088","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2004-07-04T21:03:44Z","dateModified":"2024-08-18T19:57:46Z","headline":"in philosophy, a complete and consistent way the world is or could have been"}</script> </body> </html>