Title: Identity through Possible Worlds: Some Questions
Abstract: In an article on Hintikka's Knowledge and Belief, I suggested that certain difficult questions come to mind when we consider the thought that an individual in one possible world might be identical with an individual in another possible world.2 The present paper is written in response to the editor's invitation to be more explicit about these questions. Let us suppose, then, that the figure of an infinity of possible worlds makes good sense and let us also suppose, for simplicity of presentation, that we have a complete description of this one. We may consider some one of the entities of this world, alter its description slightly. adjust the descriptions of the other entities in the world to fit this alteration, and then ask ourselves whether the entity in the possible world that we thus arrive at is identical with the entity we started with in this world. We start with Adam, say; we alter his description slightly and allow him to live for 931 years instead of for only 930; we then accomodate our
Publication Year: 1967
Publication Date: 1967-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 241
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