On Lewis Against Magic: A Study of Method in Metaphysics

A.R.J. Fisher

Philosophy

Research Output:

Contribution to journal

Article

Peer-review

Abstract

David Lewis objected to theories that posit necessary connections between distinct entities and to theories that involve a magical grasping of their primitives. In On the Plurality of Worlds, Lewis objected to nondescript ersatzism on these grounds (and thus branded it as ‘magical’). The literature contains several reconstructions of Lewis’ critique of nondescript ersatzism but none of these interpretations adequately address his main argument because they fail to see that Lewis’ critique is based on broader methodological considerations. I argue that a closer look at his methodology reveals the broader objection he presented against nondescript ersatzism. This objection, I further argue, remains a challenge for the ersatzer who posits structure-less entities as possible worlds.

Access to documents

10.1007/s11229-015-0679-3

Bibliographic Information

Output type

Research Output:

Contribution to journal

Article

Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 2335-2353

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Synthese

Publication milestones

Published - 2018

Publication status

Published - 2018

ISSN

0039-7857

Publication IDs

ORCID: /0000-0001-5351-4521/work/83161438
Scopus: 84923233919