On the Contingency of Logic in Possible World Semantics

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 12-2025
Journal Logica Universalis
Volume | Issue number 19 | 4
Pages (from-to) 721–737
Number of pages 17
Organisations
  • Interfacultary Research - Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC)
Abstract
This paper investigates the contingency of logic within the framework of possible world semantics. Possible world semantics captures the meaning of necessitation, i.e., a statement is necessarily true if it holds in all possible worlds. Standard Kripkean semantics assumes that all possible worlds are governed by one single logic. We relax this assumption and introduce mixed models, in which different worlds may obey different logical systems. The paper provides a first case study where we mix classical propositional logic (CPC) and intuitionistic propositional logic (IPC) in the possible world semantics. We define the class of mixed models MM (CPC, IPC), together with a subclass of concrete mixed models (CMM), and establish their semantic properties. Our main result shows that the set of formulas valid in MM (CPC, IPC) corresponds exactly to the intuitionistic modal logic iK extended with the Box Excluded Middle axiom (iK + bem). To demonstrate this, we prove soundness and completeness results linking MM (CPC, IPC) and CMM, and birelational models for iK + bem.
Document type Article
Note In special issue: 3rd World Logic Prizes Contest, Cusco, Peru, 2025
Language English
Published at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11787-025-00400-7
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s11787-025-00400-7 (Final published version)
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