Research Group
in Analytic Philosophy

Abstract

Firstly, I present a well-defined and Lewisian conception of analysis in which the elements, methods and criteria of success of an analytic theory are made clear and explicit. Secondly, I apply this conception of analysis to illuminate Lewis's analysis of possibility, showing how it suggests that various issues should properly be formulated and resolved. These issues include the circularity, relevance and completeness of the analysis of possibility, the role of intuitions and the relationship between the analysis of possibility and commitments concerning the extent (extension) of possibility.