Counterpart theory is the claim that a weak relation connects an object in the actual world to an object that exists in a possible world. Lewis calls this the counterpart relation, explaining that “you are in the actual world and not other, but you have counterparts in other worlds. Your counterparts resemble you closely in content and context in important respects. They resemble you more closely than do the other things in their worlds. But they are not really you. For each of them is in his own world, and only you are here in the actual world.” Lewis believes that counterparts resolve the problem of transworld identities. Counterpart theory can easily explain away how an individual can ‘seem’ to be in both the actual world and another possible world without needing to rely on breaking spatiotemporal boundaries. Using Lewis’ theory, one would formulate the sentence ‘if I took the bus, I would have been late for my appointment’ as ‘if my counterpart in a possible world had taken the bus, my counterpart would have been late for the appointment’. Using this formula, possible world theory once again becomes useful in talking about
Counterpart theory is the claim that a weak relation connects an object in the actual world to an object that exists in a possible world. Lewis calls this the counterpart relation, explaining that “you are in the actual world and not other, but you have counterparts in other worlds. Your counterparts resemble you closely in content and context in important respects. They resemble you more closely than do the other things in their worlds. But they are not really you. For each of them is in his own world, and only you are here in the actual world.” Lewis believes that counterparts resolve the problem of transworld identities. Counterpart theory can easily explain away how an individual can ‘seem’ to be in both the actual world and another possible world without needing to rely on breaking spatiotemporal boundaries. Using Lewis’ theory, one would formulate the sentence ‘if I took the bus, I would have been late for my appointment’ as ‘if my counterpart in a possible world had taken the bus, my counterpart would have been late for the appointment’. Using this formula, possible world theory once again becomes useful in talking about