Rule-Made Modality is World-Frictioned

Krzysztof Sękowski (University of Warsaw)

The first meeting of the Sign-Language-Reality seminar in the academic year 2026/27 will take place:

Thursday, the 29th of October 2026, 17.00, Central European Time

Krzysztof Sękowski

(University of Warsaw)

will deliver a talk:

Rule-Made Modality is World-Frictioned

Abstract:

An important part of the growing deflationary movement to rethink metaphysics as
focused on metalinguistic negotiation is modal normativism that explains modal
discourse in terms of the expression of semantic rules rather than the tracking
of modal facts. Despite its virtues, the view is often criticized for allegedly
leading to anti-realist consequences and failure in explaining how modal
knowledge, and thereby metaphysical theories are constrained by the world. This
paper argues that these worries arise from a mismatch of explanatory
expectations. I argue that while modal normativism primarily provides a
functional and justificatory account of modal discourse, critics implicitly
demand a causal explanation of how semantic rules are acquired. I show that this
demand reflects a more general epistemological concern known as the Problem of
Modal Epistemic Friction, namely the challenge of explaining how our modal
judgments are constrained so as not to overgenerate possibilities. In response,
I develop a causal account of semantic rule acquisition, arguing that such rules
emerge from pre-normative, world-involving abilities to reliably and
differentially follow patterns of interaction. Making this causal story explicit
shows how modal cognition is constrained by the world without invoking modal
truthmakers, but through its anchoring in interaction with the environment.

About the speaker:

Krzysztof Sękowski is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warsaw. His research focuses on metaphilosophy, philosophy of language, and epistemology, particularly the role of intuitions in philosophical reasoning, conceptual engineering, and cross-cultural differences in thinking. He is the author of numerous articles published in prestigious international journals, including The Philosophical Quarterly, Synthese, Inquiry, Episteme, and Review of Philosophy and Psychology. His recent publications include the monograph W laboratorium filozofii języka (2025) and the article Conceptual Engineering is Old News (2026, co-authored with Ethan Landes). 

Speaker's webiste: https://sekowski.weebly.com/

The seminar will be held online, to join the meeting, please use the information below:

Join Zoom Meeting https://uw-edu-pl.zoom.us/j/92716044372?pwd=0l7PETAOwqQDBKTMCnheYQN7ag7zx1.1

Meeting ID: 927 1604 4372 Passcode: 697648 The meeting opens at 4:45 pm, the talk starts at 5 pm.

https://www.pts.edu.pl/seminarium