(1983). New work for a theory of universals. Australasian Journal of Philosophy: Vol. 61, No. 4, pp. 343-377.

David Lewis is one of the most influential philosophers of our age, and On the Plurality of Worlds is his magnum opus. OPW offers an extended development and defense of the hypothesis that there are many universes, things of the same kind as the universe in which we all live, move, and have our being. Lewis calls these universes ―worlds‖, deliberately recalling the notion of a ―possible world‖ familiar from modal logic and the metaphysics of modality. The title invokes the thesis of the book: there are pluralities of worlds, things of the same kind as the world we inhabit, differing only with respect to what goes on in them. Lewis sought in earlier work (Lewis, 1973, pp. 84–86) to offer a direct argument from common sense modal commitments to the existence of a plurality of worlds. OPW offers a less direct argument. Here, Lewis supports the hypothesis by arguing that, if we accept it, we have the material to offer a wide range of analyses of hitherto puzzling and problematic notions. We thereby effect a theoretical unification and simplification: with a small stock of primitives, we can analyze a number of important philosophical notions with a broad range of applications. But the analyses Lewis proposes are adequate only if we accept the thesis that there are a plurality of worlds. Lewis claims that this is a reason to accept the thesis. In his words, «the hypothesis is serviceable, and that is a reason to think that it is true» (p. 3).

Additional excerpts

New work for a theory of universals

On the Plurality of Worlds

This is a position paper or trailer for a larger work in progress and having the same title. My hypothesis is that the world is a world of states of affairs. I think that I am saying the same thing as those who have held that the world is a world of facts not things. So it may be in order to begin by saying why I use the phrase ‘state of affairs’ rather than the word ‘fact’. This is all the more in order because it is customary among those who patronize facts to use ‘state of affairs’ to mean no more than possible fact. My states of affairs, however, are all existents.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2214133.pdf

A World of States of Affairs

Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1. The Linguistic Turn and the Conceptual Turn. 2. Taking Philosophical Questions at Face Value. 3. Metaphysical Conceptions of Analyticity. 4. Epistemological Conceptions of Analyticity. 5. Knowledge of Metaphysical Modality. 6. Thought Experiments. 7. Evidence in Philosophy. 8. Knowledge Maximization. Afterword. Must Do Better. Appendix 1. Modal Logic within Counterfactual Logic. Appendix 2. Counterfactual Donkeys. Bibliography. Index

/pdf/the-philosophy-of-philosophy-2t6nw85wbh.pdf

The Philosophy of Philosophy

Introduction 1. The Four-Dimensional Picture 2. Against Presentism 3. Three- and Four-Dimensionalism Stated 4. In Favor of Four-Dimensionalism Part 1 5. In Favor of Four-Dimensionalism Part 2: The Best Unified Theory of the Paradoxes of Coincidence 6. Arguments against Four-Dimensionalism Bibliography, Index

Four-Dimensionalism: An Ontology of Persistence and Time

(2004). SNAP and SPAN: Towards Dynamic Spatial Ontology. Spatial Cognition & Computation: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 69-104.

background

/pdf/snap-and-span-towards-dynamic-spatial-ontology-54nlj7p3k1.pdf

New work for a theory of universals

Citations

On the Plurality of Worlds

A World of States of Affairs

The Philosophy of Philosophy

Four-Dimensionalism: An Ontology of Persistence and Time

SNAP and SPAN: Towards Dynamic Spatial Ontology

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