Objects and Modalities

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Individuals and Cross-World Identity

   • Tero Tulenheimo

   Pages 1-24

3. The Nature of Modal Individuals

   • Tero Tulenheimo

   Pages 25-58

4. Two Modes of Individuation

   • Tero Tulenheimo

   Pages 59-84

5. Intentional Objects as World Lines

   • Tero Tulenheimo

   Pages 85-112

6. Logical Repercussions of World Line Semantics

   • Tero Tulenheimo

   Pages 113-141

7. General Consequences

   • Tero Tulenheimo

   Pages 143-172

8. Back Matter

   Pages 173-208

   PDF

This book develops a novel generalization of possible world semantics, called ‘world line semantics’, which recognizes worlds and links between world-bound objects (world lines) as mutually independent aspects of modal semantics. Addressing a wide range of questions vital for contemporary debates in logic and philosophy of language and offering new tools for theoretical linguistics and knowledge representation, the book proposes a radically new paradigm in modal semantics. This framework is motivated philosophically, viewing a structure of world lines as a precondition of modal talk. The author provides a uniform analysis of quantification over individuals (physical objects) and objects of thought (intentional objects). The semantic account of what it means to speak of intentional objects throws new light on accounts of intentionality and singular thought in the philosophy of mind and offers novel insights into the semantics of intensional transitive verbs.

• Cross-world Identity
• First-order Modal Logic
• Intentional Verbs
• Modal Semantics
• Mode of Individuation
• Non-existent Objects
• Objects and Modalities
• Quantified Modal Logic
• World Line
• World Line Semantics

“In my opinion, this book has many qualities, mainly those of presenting in a solid manner a formal tool, investigating some of its properties with precision, and showing convincingly how it can be used to discuss relevant philosophical problems. I think the author is very conscious of his achievements and I prize the writing of such a good work.” (Jorge Petrucio Viana, Mathematical Reviews, October, 2019)

• CNRS, University of Lille CNRS, Lille, France

  Tero Tulenheimo

Since 2009, Tero Tulenheimo has been an associate professor at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Lille. He defended his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Helsinki in 2004. His research interests are in logic, philosophy of language, ontology, and epistemology. He has published more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles in international journals and edited books.

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