From jjllambias@hotmail.com Sat Feb 10 15:43:32 2001 Return-Path: X-Sender: jjllambias@hotmail.com X-Apparently-To: lojban@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_0_3); 10 Feb 2001 23:43:29 -0000 Received: (qmail 23783 invoked from network); 10 Feb 2001 23:43:29 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.27) by m8.onelist.org with QMQP; 10 Feb 2001 23:43:29 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO hotmail.com) (216.33.241.215) by mta2 with SMTP; 10 Feb 2001 23:43:29 -0000 Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Sat, 10 Feb 2001 15:43:28 -0800 Received: from 200.41.210.20 by lw8fd.law8.hotmail.msn.com with HTTP; Sat, 10 Feb 2001 23:43:28 GMT X-Originating-IP: [200.41.210.20] To: lojban@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [lojban] RE:su'u Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 23:43:28 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: X-OriginalArrivalTime: 10 Feb 2001 23:43:28.0589 (UTC) FILETIME=[44A02FD0:01C093BB] From: "Jorge Llambias" la djan cusku di'e >I think you conceive of *possible* worlds too broadly; not every >conceivable world is a possible world. Either every conceivable world is possible or only the real world is possible. I think those are the least arbitrary definitions of "possible". But even if you take some other intermediate position on "possible", are you saying that essential properties are conserved only in possible worlds, not in every world? >For example, there is no >possible world in which (Kripke's example) Queen Elizabeth has >always been a swan. We can *say* "If the Queen of England were >a swan, she would have feathers", but we cannot *reason* about this >world usefully. Why not? Isn't the very sentence you wrote a kind of reasoning? "If the Queen of England were a swan, she would have feathers. The Queen of England does not have feathers. Therefore, the Queen of England is not a swan." This seems like a useful kind of reasoning, and you need a world where the Queen is a swan in order for it to make sense. co'o mi'e xorxes _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.