Identity, Time, and Necessity

Author: Mackie P.

Source: Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 98, Number 1, 1998 , pp. 59-78(20)

Buy & download fulltext article:

The full text article is temporarily unavailable.

We apologise for the inconvenience. Please try again later.

Abstract:

The paper offers an explanation of the intuitive appeal of Saul Kripke's necessity of origin thesis, exhibiting it as the consequence of a temporally asymmetrical `branching model' of possibilities which, in turn, rests on two plausible principles concerning possibility, time, and identity. Unlike some other accounts, my explanation dissociates the necessity of origin thesis from a commitment to individual essences or other sufficient conditions for identity across possible worlds. I conclude that although the branching model is not irresistible, its rejection may necessitate the denial of a plausible principle that requires possibilities for actual individuals to be `anchored' to their actual characteristics.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT

Publication date: 1998-01-01