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date: 28 January 2021

Abstract and Keywords

The first section of this article summarizes some key points of the possible worlds semantics, one of the most influential philosophical modal paradigms of the last century. The second section describes the main lines of the medieval uses of traditional extensional modalities, particularly in obligations logic and indirect proofs. The third section offers a brief account of early medieval deviations from ancient modal theories. The fourth section deals with Duns Scotus's intentional modal semantics and its applications. The fifth section discusses the influence of new modal semantics on modal logic.

Keywords: possible worlds semantics, obligations logic, traditional extensional modalities, modal theory, Duns Scotus, modal semantics

Simo Knuuttila

Simo Knuuttila is Professor of Thelogical Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion at the University of Helsinki. His publications include Modalities in Medieval Philosphy (1993) and Emotions in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (2006).

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