Modality and Tense Philosophical Papers [Paperback]

Since the 1970s Kit Fine has been one of the leading contributors to work at the intersection of logic and metaphysics. This is his eagerly-awaited first book in the area. It draws together a series of essays, three of them previously unpublished, on possibility, necessity, and tense. These puzzling aspects of the way the world is have been the focus of considerable philosophical attention in recent decades. A helpful introduction orients the reader and offers a way into some of the most original work in contemporary philosophy.

Introduction
I. Issues in the Philosophy of Language
1. Reference, Essence, and Identity
2. The Problem of De Re Modality
3. Quine on Quantifying In
II. Issues in Ontology
4. Prior on the Construction of Possible Worlds and Instants
5. Plantinga on the Reduction of Possibilist Discourse
6. The Problem of Possibilia
III. Issues in Metaphysics
7. The Varieties of Necessity
8. The Reality of Tense
9. Necessity and Non-Existence
IV. Reviews
10. Review of Lewis's 'Counterfactuals'
11. Review of Plantinga's 'Nature of Necessity'

Kit Fineis Silver Professor of Philosophy at New York University.