CALL FOR PAPERS / Thematic issue of Philosophia Scientiae 16/2 (June 2012)
Guest Editors : Filipe Drapeau Vieira Contim & Sébastien Motta
Guest Authors : Bob Hale & Scott Shalkowski
Deadline for submissions : July 1st, 2011
Acceptance Notification : November 1st, 2011
Following the works of Hintikka and Kripke, modal notions (possibility and necessity) have received a quantificational analysis in terms of possible worlds. Such an analysis now prevails as it offers an intuitive interpretation of the axioms and inferences of modal logic. The present Volume aims to find out to what extent possible worlds semantics can prove fruitful for epistemology. The question is two-fold. First, can possible worlds semantics help in resolving recalcitrant problems such as the Fregean puzzle of cognitive value or thoughts about non existent objects? Second, does possible worlds semantics provide a foundation for modal epistemology—which is to say, can it be the right starting point for a theory of knowledge of metaphysical possibility and necessity? In this regard, it is not clear that we have made much more progress than the early modern philosophers. The widely accepted principle that “conceivability indicates possibility” is silent on the epistemic source of modal intuitions. Must we postulate a sui generis rational faculty, distinct from imagination and able to detect possible worlds? Or is modal knowledge nothing more than semantic knowledge based on our concepts (Peacocke)? Or yet again, is it a by-product of our ordinary counterfactual reasoning (Williamson)? This is the challenge of integration: how can we reconcile a plausible epistemology of possibility with our best truth-condition theory for modal statements?
Themes that contributors to the special issue may address include (but are not limited to):
* Conceivability and possibility
* Modal knowledge and counterfactual reasoning
* Necessity and apriority
* Necessity and analyticity
* Reductive analysis of modality
* Two-dimensional semantics
* Modal semantics applied to fiction and propositional attitudes.
Manuscripts should be submitted in English or French, and prepared for anonymous peer review. Abstracts in French and English (200-300 words) should be included. Papers’ length should not exceed 8500 words.
Guidelines for authors are to be found on the journal’s website at:
Papers should be sent by e-mail to: philosophiascientiae@univ-nancy2.fr
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General submissions within this range are welcome.
Philosophia Scientiae is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It publishes research relating to epistemology, history and philosophy of science, especially in the field of mathematics, physics, and logic, without excluding any other scientific field. It is published by Kimé Editions (Paris).
For any further information (for instance, submission guidelines, back issues, abstracts), please refer to the website of the Journal:http://poincare.univ-nancy2.fr/PhilosophiaScientiae/Accueil/.
The Editorial Board (philosophiascientiae@univ-nancy2.fr)
Revue Philosophia Scientiae
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