Reducing reductionism: on a putative proof for Extreme Haecceitism

Philosophical Studies 140 (2):149-159 (2008)
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Abstract

Nathan Salmon, in his paper Trans-World Identification and Stipulation (1996) purports to give a proof for the claim that facts concerning trans-world identity cannot be conceptually reduced to general facts. He calls this claim ‘Extreme Haecceitism.’ I argue that his proof is fallacious. However, I also contend that the analysis and ultimate rejection of his proof clarifies the fundamental issues that are at stake in the debate between the reductionist and haecceitist solutions to the problem of trans-world identity. These issues hinge on the ability of modal logic and possible worlds semantics to draw a hard and fast distinction between the logic and the metaphysics of modal logic. I shall claim that the considerations in this paper call into question the viability of such a distinction.

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Troy Catterson
Salve Regina University

References found in this work

Philosophy of Logics.Susan Haack - 1978 - London and New York: Cambridge University Press.
On branching quantifiers in English.Jon Barwise - 1979 - Journal of Philosophical Logic 8 (1):47 - 80.
Modal Paradox: Parts and Counterparts, Points and Counterpoints.Nathan Salmon - 1986 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 11 (1):75-120.
Trans-World Identification and Stipulation.Nathan Salmon - 1996 - Philosophical Studies 84 (2-3):203 - 223.
Independence-friendly logic and axiomatic set theory.Jaakko Hintikka - 2004 - Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 126 (1-3):313-333.

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