Knowledge and modality

Kripke claims that there are necessary a posteriori truths and contingent a priori truths. These claims challenge the traditional Kantian view that

1. (K)
   All knowledge of necessary truths is a priori and all a priori knowledge is of necessary truths.
    

Kripke’s claims continue to be resisted, which indicates that the Kantian view remains attractive. My goal is to identify the most plausible principles linking the epistemic and the modal. My strategy for identifying the principles is to investigate two related questions. Are there compelling general supporting arguments for (K)? Are there decisive counterexamples to (K)? My investigation uncovers two intuitively plausible principles that are not open to decisive counterexamples but which enjoy no compelling independent support.

     

客观认识心脏介入治疗

心脏介入治疗技术作为当代心血管领域里先进技术的代表,已在我国很多医院广泛应用,取得了良好的疗效.然而,近年来由于医疗卫生体制的不完善,导致某些医务人员对它的认识出现了偏差,甚至滥用心脏介入治疗技术,给国家和患者带来沉重的负担.因此笔者认为有必要客观认识它,规范它在临床上的应用,使其真正做到为患者解除疾苦.     

Measurement of sexual arousal in several paraphilias: The effects of stimulus modality,instructional set and stimulus content on the objective

The effects of instructional set (become aroused or suppress arousal), stimulus modality (videotape, audiotape, slides, free fantasy) and stimulus content (paraphilic or non-paraphilic) on sexual arousal, as measured by penile plethysmograph, of six different groups of paraphilics, pedophiles, rapists, exhibitionists, homosexuals, sado-masochists and fetishists, were determined. The results showed significant main effects of instructional set and of stimulus modality (videotape was clearly more arousing) as well as several complex interactions of diagnostic group with the other independent variables.     

Dutch modality exclusivity norms: Simulating perceptual modality in space

Perceptual information is important for the meaning of nouns. We present modality exclusivity norms for 485 Dutch nouns rated on visual, auditory, haptic, gustatory, and olfactory associations. We found these nouns are highly multimodal. They were rated most dominant in vision, and least in olfaction. A factor analysis identified two main dimensions: one loaded strongly on olfaction and gustation (reflecting joint involvement in flavor), and a second loaded strongly on vision and touch (reflecting joint involvement in manipulable objects). In a second study, we validated the ratings with similarity judgments. As expected, words from the same dominant modality were rated more similar than words from different dominant modalities; but – more importantly – this effect was enhanced when word pairs had high modality strength ratings. We further demonstrated the utility of our ratings by investigating whether perceptual modalities are differentially experienced in space, in a third study. Nouns were categorized into their dominant modality and used in a lexical decision experiment where the spatial position of words was either in proximal or distal space. We found words dominant in olfaction were processed faster in proximal than distal space compared to the other modalities, suggesting olfactory information is mentally simulated as “close” to the body. Finally, we collected ratings of emotion (valence, dominance, and arousal) to assess its role in perceptual space simulation, but the valence did not explain the data. So, words are processed differently depending on their perceptual associations, and strength of association is captured by modality exclusivity ratings.     

The meaning of modality

This paper describes a semantics for modal terms such as can and may that is intended to model the mental representation of their meaning. The basic assumption of the theory is that the evaluation of a modal assertion involves an attempted mental construction of a specified alternative to a given situation rather than the separate evaluation of each member of a set of possible alternatives as would be required by a “possible worlds” semantics. The theory leads to the conclusion that, contrary to what is often assumed, modal auxiliary verbs are unambiguous.     

The laws of modality

Philosophical Studies - Nomic realists have traditionally put laws to work within a theory of natural modality, in order to provide a metaphysical source for causal necessitation, counterfactuals,...     

Kant's principles of modality

Kant presents three principles of modality in the Critique of Pure Reason. Historically, commentators have mostly disregarded them; a few have rejected them outright. In recent years, however, a consensus has begun to develop around the idea that the role of these principles is to rule out certain metaphysical doctrines. I argue that this understates their importance. Rather, the principles of modality are essential conditions of the possibility of experience. I conclude by examining the question of their truth, which, I argue, can only be grasped by considering them as postulates—i.e., as practical propositions of a certain kind.     

Truthmakers and modality

This paper attempts to locate, within an actualist ontology, truthmakers for modal truths: truths of the form <Possibly, p> or <Necessarily, p>. In Sect. 1 I motivate the demand for substantial truthmakers for modal truths. In Sect. 2 I criticise Armstrong’s account of truthmakers for modal truths. In Sect. 3 I examine essentialism and defend an account of what makes essentialist attributions true, but I argue that this does not solve the problem of modal truth in general. In Sect. 4 I discuss, and dismiss, a theistic account of the source of modal truth proposed by Alexander Pruss. In Sect. 5 I offer a means of (dis)solving the problem.     

Effects of standard modality, comparison modality and retention interval on matching of form

Garvill, J. & Molander, B. Effects of standard modality, comparison modality and retention interval on matching of form. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 203–206.MdashIntra-modal and cross-modal matching of nonsense forms was studied in a 2 (standard modalities: visual vs. tactual) by 2 (comparison modalities: visual vs. tactual) by 3 (intervals between standard and comparison: 1, 10 and 30 sec) factorial experiment. The errors were divided into false negatives and false positives. Significant effects of standard modality and of comparison modality were found for false negatives. For false positives the most prominent effect was an interaction between the standard modality and the comparison modality. Retention interval had no effect in any of the modality conditions. The effects are discussed in terms of differential information processing capacity for the visual and the tactual modalities.