Abstract

ALVARADO, JOSÉ TOMÁS. A Causal Theory of Modality. Ideas y Valores [online]. 2009, vol.58, n.140, pp.173-196. ISSN 0120-0062.

This work presents a causal conception of metaphysical modality in which a state of affairs is metaphysically possible if and only if it can be caused (in the past, the present or the future) by current entities. The conception is contrasted with what is called the "combinatorial" conception of modality, in which everything can coexist with anything else. This work explains how the notion of 'causality' should be construed in the causal theory, what difference exists between modalities thus defined from nomological modality, how accessibility relations between possible worlds should be interpreted, and what is the relation between the causal conception and the necessity of origin.

Keywords : modality; possible worlds; causality; accessibility; relations; necessity of origin.

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