Foundational Questions About Possible Worlds

It is the 20th century that modern modal logic was being hotly discussed. Since the establishment of possible worlds semantics, the study of modal logic has made philosphy experience a profound innovation. Among the discussions, the most controversial are philosphical questions behind the possible worlds semantics which are concerned with the ontology of possible worlds, transworld identity and transworld identification.Usually, there are three approaches concerning the former: modal realism, modest realism and reductivilism. Among those, the third can also be named toolism, which takes possible worlds to be maximally consistent sets of propositions and having no ontological status. Hence the first two theories constitute greater significance in the discussions of philosophy. Again, because the"world"in"transworld identity and transworld identification"refers to possible worlds, the way we construe possible worlds greatly helps us analsize questions of transworld identity and transworld identification.Modal realism is a defense of the view that possible worlds and their contents are all equally real, and possible worlds have the similar nature and status with the actual, and the counterpart theory actually rejects the doctrine of transworld identity and transworld identification and therefore fails to correctly explain the essential of those two questions. According to modest realism, possible worlds are total ways, states or history of the whole world. In accordance with modest realism, it can be stipulated that the increasing and reducing of attributes of individuals create possible worlds and then, an actual individual can therefore"exists"in various possible worlds. However, the conflict between them makes it harder to unify the definition of possible worlds and more difficult to analsize transworld identity and transworld identification. In attempt to unify different ideas it is concluded that if we interpret possible worlds in a sense of world, we can erase so-called difficulties.All in all, the destinctive definition makes the nature of possible worlds clearer and unify the revelent theory about the two questions.