counterpart theory
E392407
Counterpart theory is a philosophical account of modality, developed by David Lewis, which explains how individuals in different possible worlds are related not by strict identity but by counterpart relations based on similarity.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| counterpart theory canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3843090 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: counterpart theory Context triple: [David Lewis, notableIdea, counterpart theory]
-
A.
Counterpoint
Counterpoint is a 1968 World War II drama film starring Charlton Heston as an orchestra conductor captured by Nazis, directed by Ralph Nelson.
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B.
Moore's paradox
Moore's paradox is a philosophical problem highlighting the oddity of asserting a sentence like "It is raining, but I don't believe that it is raining," which seems logically consistent yet pragmatically absurd.
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C.
On Contradiction
"On Contradiction" is a 1937 philosophical essay by Mao Zedong that systematically applies and develops Marxist dialectical materialism to analyze the nature and role of contradictions in social and historical processes.
-
D.
Anti
Anti is Rihanna’s critically acclaimed eighth studio album, known for its experimental R&B sound and artistic departure from her earlier pop-oriented work.
-
E.
Point Counter Point
Point Counter Point is a 1928 modernist novel by Aldous Huxley that satirically portrays the intellectual and social life of the British upper class through a complex, multi-character narrative.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: counterpart theory Target entity description: Counterpart theory is a philosophical account of modality, developed by David Lewis, which explains how individuals in different possible worlds are related not by strict identity but by counterpart relations based on similarity.
-
A.
Counterpoint
Counterpoint is a 1968 World War II drama film starring Charlton Heston as an orchestra conductor captured by Nazis, directed by Ralph Nelson.
-
B.
Moore's paradox
Moore's paradox is a philosophical problem highlighting the oddity of asserting a sentence like "It is raining, but I don't believe that it is raining," which seems logically consistent yet pragmatically absurd.
-
C.
On Contradiction
"On Contradiction" is a 1937 philosophical essay by Mao Zedong that systematically applies and develops Marxist dialectical materialism to analyze the nature and role of contradictions in social and historical processes.
-
D.
Anti
Anti is Rihanna’s critically acclaimed eighth studio album, known for its experimental R&B sound and artistic departure from her earlier pop-oriented work.
-
E.
Point Counter Point
Point Counter Point is a 1928 modernist novel by Aldous Huxley that satirically portrays the intellectual and social life of the British upper class through a complex, multi-character narrative.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
metaphysical theory
ⓘ
philosophical theory ⓘ theory of modality ⓘ |
| addressesProblem |
cross-world identity of individuals
ⓘ
semantics of quantified modal logic ⓘ |
| associatedWith | modal realism ⓘ |
| assumes | a plurality of possible worlds ⓘ |
| canBeAdoptedBy | ersatz modal realist frameworks ⓘ |
| compatibleWith | Lewisian modal realism ⓘ |
| contrastsWith |
Kripkean essentialism
ⓘ
trans-world identity theory ⓘ |
| coreIdea |
counterpart relations are based on similarity
ⓘ
individuals in different possible worlds are related by counterpart relations rather than strict identity ⓘ there is no trans-world identity of individuals ⓘ |
| criticizedFor |
denying strict identity across possible worlds
ⓘ
relying on context-sensitive similarity relations ⓘ |
| debatedBy |
Kit Fine
ⓘ
Saul Kripke ⓘ |
| developedBy | David Lewis ⓘ |
| elaboratedIn |
On the Plurality of Worlds
ⓘ
surface form:
"On the Plurality of Worlds"
|
| elaboratedInYear | 1986 ⓘ |
| field |
metaphysics
ⓘ
modal metaphysics ⓘ philosophy of language ⓘ |
| firstMajorPresentationIn | "Counterpart Theory and Quantified Modal Logic" ⓘ |
| firstMajorPresentationYear | 1968 ⓘ |
| hasApplicationIn |
metaphysics of personal identity
ⓘ
philosophy of mind ⓘ philosophy of science ⓘ |
| hasVariant | ersatz counterpart theory ⓘ |
| implies |
de re modal claims are evaluated via counterpart relations
ⓘ
modal statements about an individual concern its counterparts in other worlds ⓘ |
| influenced |
contemporary debates on modality
ⓘ
debates on de re modality ⓘ formal semantics for modal languages ⓘ |
| influencedBy | David Lewis's modal realism ⓘ |
| influencedPhilosopher |
Allan Gibbard
ⓘ
Robert Stalnaker ⓘ Theodore Sider ⓘ |
| involvesDistinction |
between counterparts and duplicates
ⓘ
between de dicto and de re modality ⓘ between similarity-in-respects and overall similarity ⓘ |
| logicalForm | uses counterpart quantification across worlds ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
counterpart semantics
ⓘ
counterpart-theoretic interpretation of modal logic ⓘ |
| usesConcept |
counterpart relation
ⓘ
possible worlds ⓘ similarity relation ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: counterpart theory Description of subject: Counterpart theory is a philosophical account of modality, developed by David Lewis, which explains how individuals in different possible worlds are related not by strict identity but by counterpart relations based on similarity.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.