UDC

111.1:168.2

DOI

10.17238/issn2227-6564.2019.3.88

Authors

Vladimir V. Voloshin
Donetsk National University; ul. Sportsmenov 4-1, Donetsk, 283037, Ukraine;
e-mail: v.v.don7ff@gmail.com

Abstract

This article deals with the scope (extension) and content (intension) of the concept of possible world. The aim of this paper is to determine the applicability of the classification theory to the class of objects called possible worlds by means of detecting correspondence between the existing classifications and the rules of the theory in question. Due to the fact that during the process of classification the extensional program (taxonomy) intersects with the intensional program (meronomy), the achievement of the aim is preceded by the analysis of the definitions of the article’s key concept. The author treats possible worlds as mental constructs representing possible configurations of the individuals’ existence, events and histories relevant in a certain system of modal coordinates. The novelty of the article consists in the fact that the problems of application of the classification theory to the concept of possible world have been neither formulated nor solved earlier. The theoretical importance of the work lies in broadening and crossing the classification paradigm and the problem areas of the doctrine of possible worlds. The obtained results are of practical significance for studies within such domains as ontology, epistemology, and logic. Moreover, the results reveal certain specifics and difficulties in the classification procedure (typology) aimed at mental constructs. In addition, some obstacles hampering the standard classification of possible worlds were identified. The classifications considered in this article appear to be artificial typological descriptions, characterized by relativity and prescriptivity as well as by a deficit of predictive power. The groups are created arbitrarily, breaching the rules of logic; both the grounds and the principles of classification are fuzzy, while many of the groups singled out are falsifiable. Thus, it is concluded that the process under study has considerable limitations as far as the extensional aspect is concerned – its cognitive potential is only fulfilled within the intensional diagnostic program.

Keywords

possible worlds, modality, accessibility, classifying, classification, taxonomy, meronomy

References

1. Krymskiy S.B., Kuznetsov V.I. Mirovozzrencheskie kategorii v sovremennom estestvoznanii [Worldview Categories in Modern Natural Science]. Kiev, 1983. 222 p.
2. Goodman N. Fakt, fantaziya i predskazanie. Sposoby sozdaniya mirov. Stat’i [Fact, Fiction and Forecast. Ways of Worldmaking: Articles]. Moscow, 2001. 376 p.
3. Voronin Yu.A. Teoriya klassifitsirovaniya i ee prilozheniya [Classification Theory and Its Applications]. Novosibirsk, 1985. 231 p.
4. Meyen S.V., Shreyder Yu.A. Metodologicheskie aspekty teorii klassifikatsii [Methodological Aspects of Classification Theory]. Voprosy filosofii, 1976, no. 12, pp. 67–79.
5. Rozova S.S. Klassifikatsionnaya problema v sovremennoy nauke [Classification Problem in Modern Science]. Novosibirsk, 1986. 224 p.
6. Subbotin A.L. Klassifikatsiya [Classification]. Moscow, 2001. 94 p.
7. Hintikka J. Logiko-epistemologicheskie issledovaniya [Logical and Epistemological Research]. Moscow, 1980. 448 p.
8. Scott D. Sovety po modal’noy logike [Advice on Modal Logic]. Smirnov V.A. (ed.). Semantika modal’nykh i intensional’nykh logik [Semantics of Modal and Intensional Logics]. Moscow, 1981, pp. 280–317.
9. Gorbatov V.V. Dvoyakaya rol’ vozmozhnykh mirov v logicheskoy semantike [The Dual Role of Possible Worlds in Logical Semantics]. Dragalina-Chernaya E.G. (ed.). Vozmozhnye miry. Semantika, ontologiya, metafizika [Possible Worlds. Semantics, Ontology, Metaphysics]. Moscow, 2011, pp. 228–241.
10. Eco U. Rol’ chitatelya. Issledovaniya po semiotike teksta [The Role of the Reader: Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts]. Moscow, 2005. 502 p.
11. Sidorenko E.A. Logika. Paradoksy. Vozmozhnye miry. (Razmyshleniya o myshlenii v devyati ocherkakh) [Logic. Paradoxes. Possible Worlds. (Reflections on Thinking in Nine Essays)]. Moscow, 2002. 312 p.
12. Smirnova E.D. Vozmozhnye miry i ponyatie “kartin mira” [Possible Worlds and the Notion of “World Pictures”]. Voprosy filosofii, 2017, no. 1, pp. 39–49.
13. Ivin A.A. Implikatsii i modal’nosti [Implications and Modalities]. Moscow, 2004. 126 p.
14. Carnap R. Philosophical Foundations of Physics: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. New York, 1966. 300 p. (Russ. ed.: Karnap R. Filosofskie osnovaniya fiziki. Vvedenie v filosofiyu nauki. Moscow, 1971. 390 p.).
15. Vizgin V.P. Ideya mnozhestvennosti mirov: Ocherki istorii [The Idea of Multiple Worlds: Essays on History]. Moscow, 2007. 336 p.
16. Prior A.N. Vremennaya logika i nepreryvnost’ vremeni [Temporal Logic and the Continuity of Time]. Smirnov V.A. (ed.). Semantika modal’nykh i intensional’nykh logik [Semantics of Modal and Intensional Logics]. Moscow, 1981, pp. 76–97.
17. Grinenko G.V. Sakral’nye teksty i sakral’naya kommunikatsiya. Logiko-semioticheskiy analiz verbal’noy magii [Sacred Texts and Sacred Communication: A Logical-Semiotic Analysis of Verbal Magic]. Moscow, 2000. 449 p.
18. Laurent J. O nesushchestvovanii vozmozhnykh mirov v antichnoy filosofii [On the Non-Existence of Possible Worlds in Ancient Philosophy]. Dragalina-Chernaya E.G. (ed.). Vozmozhnye miry. Semantika, ontologiya, metafizika [Possible Worlds. Semantics, Ontology, Metaphysics]. Moscow, 2011, pp. 14–22.
19. Babushkin A.P. “Vozmozhnye miry” v semanticheskom prostranstve yazyka [Possible Worlds in the Semantic Space of Language]. Voronezh, 2001. 86 p.
20. Chalmers D. The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. New York, 1996. 414 p. (Russ. ed.: Chalmers D. Soznayushchiy um: V poiskakh fundamental’noy teorii. Moscow, 2013. 512 p.).
21. Quine W.V.O. From a Logical Point of View: 9 Logico-Philosophical Essays. Cambridge, 1953. 184 p. (Russ. ed.: Kuayn U.V.O. S tochki zreniya logiki: 9 logiko-filosofskikh ocherkov. Tomsk, 2003. 166 p.).
22. Vasil’ev N.A. Voobrazhaemaya logika. Izbrannye trudy [Imaginary Logic: Selected Works]. Moscow, 1989. 264 p.
23. Smirnova E.D. Logika i filosofiya [Logic and Philosophy]. Moscow, 1996. 304 p.