Modalities in Medieval Philosophy

Originally published in 1993, Modalities in Medieval Philosophy looks at the idea of modality as multiplicity of reference with respect to alternative domains. The book examines how this emerged in early medieval discussions and addresses how it was originally influenced by the theological conception of God acting by choice. After a discussion of ancient modal paradigms, the author traces the interplay of old and new modal views in medieval logic and semantics, philosophy and theology. A detailed account is given of late medieval discussions of the new modal logic, epistemic logic, and the logic norms. These theories show striking similarities to some basic tenets of contemporary approaches to modal matters. This work will be of considerable interest to historians of philosophy and ideas and philosophers of logic and metaphysics.

Preface 1. Modalities in Aristotle and Other Ancient Authors 2. Philosophical and Theological Modalities in Early Medieval Thought 3. Varieties of Necessity and Possibility in the Thirteenth Century 4. Fourteenth-Century Approaches to Modality 5. Medieval Discussions of Applied Modal Logic Bibliography Index of Names Index of Subjects

Knuuttila, Simo