This book, one of the first full-length studies of the modalities to emerge from the debate to which Saul Kripke, David Lewis, Ruth Marcus, and others are contributing, is an exploration and defense of the notion of modality de re, the idea that objects have both essential and accidental properties. Plantinga develops his argument by means of the notion of possible worlds and ranges over such key problems as the nature of essence, transworld identity, negative existential propositions, and the existence of unactual objects in other possible worlds. He also applies his logical theories to the elucidation of two problems in the philosophy of religion: the problem of evil and the ontological argument.
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"Interesting and original."--Times Higher Education Supplement
About the Author
Alvin Plantinga is at University of Notre Dame.
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An enduring classic,
By Jay W. Richards "author of Money, Greed, and God" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Nature of Necessity (Clarendon Library of Logic & Philosophy) (Paperback)
Plantinga's Nature of Necessity is a philosophical masterpiece. Although there are a number of good books in analytic philosophy dealing with modality (the concepts of necessity and possibility), this one is of sufficient clarity and breadth that even non-philosophers will benefit from it. Modal logic may seem like a fairly arcane subject to outsiders, but this book exhibits both its intrinsic interest and its general importance. If you think there are good and bad arguments, conclusions that follow from some premises but not others, then you ought to be concerned with modal logic. If you're interested in the problem of evil and the ontological argument for the existence of God, you should read this book. The Nature of Necessity has the added virtue that it maps most peoples' modal intuitions quite well (unlike some modal theories). Perhaps it is for this reason that certain philosophers treat the book a bit snippishly. I've read the book a half a dozen times; and I'll probably read it a few more times before it's all said and done.
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The classic work on the metaphysics of modality.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Nature of Necessity (Clarendon Library of Logic & Philosophy) (Paperback)
Perhaps Peter van Inwagen put it best when he called this book a "treasure trove." Plantinga's _The Nature of Necessity_ contains deep and sophisticated work on some of most important and interesting issues in metaphysics: de re modality, the nature of essences and possible worlds, nonexistent objects, and the Ontological Argument. As far as this reviewer is concerned, Plantinga's work stands as one of the greatest works of metaphysics of *all time*. I cannot recommend it highly enough
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A modern classic by an exceptionally gifted philosopher.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Nature of Necessity (Clarendon Library of Logic & Philosophy) (Paperback)
Alvin Plantinga employs Quantified Modal Logic to provide insights into the Ontological Argument, the Problem of Evil and other problems in contemporary philosophical theology. A difficult book, but written with enormous clarity, power and wit. This is one of the best books I've ever read on any subject whatever
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
THE distinction between necessary and contingent truth is as easy to recognize as it is difficult to explain to the sceptic's satisfaction. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
encaptic property, being snubnosed, unactual objects, empirically manifest property, being greater than the being, transworld depravity, maximal greatness, singular negative existentials, counterpart theorist, maximally great being, strongly actualizes, broadly logical sense, maximal excellence, necessarily false proposition, alligator body, essential attribution, transworld identity, unsurpassable greatness, proposition whose subject, counterpart theory, referential position, pure semantics, quantified modal logic, applied semantics, existential generalization Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Free Will Defence, Free Will Defender, Story Line, New York, Ontological Principle, David Lewis, Indiscernibility of Identicals, Royal Robbins, Taj Mahal, George's Adventures, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Leibniz's Law, North Dakota, Philosophical Review, Professor Marcus, Lew Alcindor, Theory of Worldbound Individuals, David Kaplan, Philosophy of Science, Santa Claus, Semantics of Natural Language, Grand Inquisitor, Logical Point of View, Saul Kripke, Some Questions New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
THE distinction between necessary and contingent truth is as easy to recognize as it is difficult to explain to the sceptic's satisfaction. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
encaptic property, being snubnosed, unactual objects, empirically manifest property, being greater than the being, transworld depravity, maximal greatness, singular negative existentials, counterpart theorist, maximally great being, strongly actualizes, broadly logical sense, maximal excellence, necessarily false proposition, alligator body, essential attribution, transworld identity, unsurpassable greatness, proposition whose subject, counterpart theory, referential position, pure semantics, quantified modal logic, applied semantics, existential generalization Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Free Will Defence, Free Will Defender, Story Line, New York, Ontological Principle, David Lewis, Indiscernibility of Identicals, Royal Robbins, Taj Mahal, George's Adventures, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Leibniz's Law, North Dakota, Philosophical Review, Professor Marcus, Lew Alcindor, Theory of Worldbound Individuals, David Kaplan, Philosophy of Science, Santa Claus, Semantics of Natural Language, Grand Inquisitor, Logical Point of View, Saul Kripke, Some Questions New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 29
books:
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100
books
cite this book:
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- From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays, Second Revised Edition by W. V. Quine on 4 pages
- Reference and Modality (Readings in Philosophy Series) by Leonard Linsky on 4 pages
- Naming and Necessity by Saul A. Kripke on page 8, page 129, and page 143
- Approaches to Natural Language: Proceedings of the 1970 Stanford Workshop on Grammar and Semantics (Synthese Library) by Jaakko Hintikka on page 87, and page 155
- War and Peace by Lev Tolstoy on page 161
See all 29 books this book cites
- Reasons for Faith: Philosophy in the Service of Theology by K. Scott Oliphint on 9 pages
- Axiomatic Formal Ontology (Synthese Library) by Uwe Meixner on 7 pages
- Particulars, Actuality, and Identity Over Time (Analytical Metaphysics, Volume 4) by Michael Tooley on 6 pages
- Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God (Cornell Studies in the Philosophy of Religion) by Marilyn McCord Adams on 6 pages
- Kripke: Names, Necessity, and Identity by Christopher Hughes on 5 pages
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