A Dictionary of Philosophy, Third Edition
. View that only what is actual exists, as against possibilism, which allows mere possibilities to exist. Actualism is a view about POSSIBLE WORLDS.
In ethics, ‘actualism’ has been used for the view that whether we ought to do X depends on what would happen if we did it, while possibilism tells us to do whatever action is best. Suppose X would be best but only if we also did Y, which we shall not in fact do (whether or not we ought to): then possibilism says Do X, while actualism says Don’t do X.
F.Jackson and R.Pargetter, ‘Oughts, options and actualism’, Philosophical Review, 1986 (reprinted in P.Pettit (ed.), Consequentialism, Dartmouth Publishing Co., 1993). (Ethical sense.)
M.J.Loux (ed.), The Possible and the Actual, Oxford UP, 1979. (See its index.)
A.McMichael, ‘A problem for actualism about possible worlds’, Philosophical Review, 1983. (See first two sections for relations between actualism and possibilism, with references.)
E.Prior, Dispositions, Aberdeen UP, 1985. (Chapter 2 discusses different versions of actualism.)
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