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Old 07-30-2003, 11:56 AM   #20 (permalink)
cliche
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Location: Oxford, UK
Quote:
Originally posted by firefly
what's the point of having multiple possible worlds if they're all exactly the same?
They're only exactly the same for theorems you can prove a priori - ie those which are necessarily true.
ie in all possible worlds, 2+2=4 (assuming we are taking all to be 'all logically possible'). You can prove that without any reference to the world itself - it is 'a priori' and therefore necessarily true; true in all the worlds.
A fact like "grass is green" cannot be proven by simply using the axioms of the system - you must refer to the possible world itself; ie "grass is green" is true iff grass is green. It is only true in a limited subset of possible worlds.
So "necessary" statements are true in all possible worlds, whereas "possible" ones are only true in some - so they're not all the same.
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