Re: [ontolog-forum] intangibles (was RE: Why most classifications are fu

[sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Dear Matthew,

I am using the term 'world' to mean everything that exists.  It is a synonym for 'universe', And if multiverses exist, then  I intend it to mean the totality of all existing multiverses.

JFS
> Possible worlds don't exist. This world is all we have.

> MW: And your proof for that is...?

It's true by the above definition.

> MW: I will grant you that we do not (currently at least) have access to
> other possible worlds, but that is a long way from them not existing. It
> is
> merely the case that we cannot prove whether they exist or not. We can of
> course show that we have representations of other possible worlds, just as
> we have representations of this world. It is sometimes worth remembering
> that in ontology we are only actually dealing with representations, even
> of
> this world.

In that case, we are using words differently.  If by possible world, you mean aspects of the universe (or multiverse) that we currently have no knowledge of, then you are talking about something very different from what philosophers mean by the term 'possible world'.

There are very large parts of our planet that most of us have no knowledge of.  Even with Google Earth looking down on us, we still don't know anything about most what exists below the surface.  And we have much less knowledge of 99.99999999999999999% of the universe.

But those things are merely called unexplored parts of the world (or universe).  The term that philosophers use for them is 'actual'.

The point I was making is that any talk about possible worlds (i.e., anything other than what is actual) is a figment of our imagination.

The only information we can get from such fantasies is derivative from what we put in by means of our thought -- i.e., it is intensional, not extensional.

John

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