ABSTRACT
My thesis is that all possibilities are purely qualitative except insofar as they involve individuals that actually exist. I have argued elsewhere ( Adams, 1979b ) that thisness holds a place beside suchness as a fundamental feature of reality – and not only of reality but also of some possibilities. There are facts, and also possibilities, that are not purely qualitative. The thesis of the present essay is that all the non-qualitative possibilities are possibilities for actual individuals. I will begin by trying to explain the meaning of this claim (Section 1); then I will defend it (Section 2), and develop some of its implications for modality, of which the chief is that what modal facts de re there are depends on what individuals actually exist (Sections 3 and 4).
