On Possible Worlds with Modal Parts

Abstract

This paper is predicated on the idea that some modal operators are better understood as quantificational expressions over worlds that determine not only first-order facts but modal facts also. In what follows, we will present a framework in which these two types of facts are brought closer together. Structural features will be located in (or determined by) the worlds themselves. This result will be achieved by decomposing worlds into parts, where some of these parts will have “modal import” in the sense that they will determine structure on other worldly parts. The main upshot of this will be a clearer grasp of the interaction between modal notions.