From Necessary Truth to Necessary Existence

Polish Journal of Philosophy 7 (1):19-30 (2013)
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Abstract

I introduce new details in an argument for necessarily existing propositions. The crux of the argument marks out a pathway to the conclusion that necessary truths cannot themselves be necessarily true unless they necessarily exist. I motivate the steps in the argument and then address several standard objections, including one that makes use of the distinction between ‘truth in’ and ‘truth at’. The purpose of the argument is to generate deeper insights into the nature of propositions and the logic of necessity. The argument also gives us a new reason to believe the traditional answer to the question of why there is anything: there is something because the alternative is impossible.

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Citations of this work

Simply Unsuccessful: The Neo-Platonic Proof of God’s Existence.Joseph Conrad Schmid - 2022 - European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 13 (4):129-156.
From Necessary Abstracta to Necessary Concreta.Alexander R. Pruss & Joshua L. Rasmussen - 2018 - In Alexander R. Pruss & Joshua L. Rasmussen, Necessary Existence. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 126-149.

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References found in this work

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First-order modal theories III — facts.Kit Fine - 1982 - Synthese 53 (1):43-122.
Universals.Chad Carmichael - 2010 - Philosophical Studies 150 (3):373-389.
On Possibly Nonexistent Propositions.Jeff Speaks - 2012 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 85 (3):528-562.
Merely Possible Propositions.Robert Stalnaker - 2010 - In Bob Hale & Aviv Hoffmann, Modality: metaphysics, logic, and epistemology. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 21-34.

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