Modern Social Theory and the Logic of Possibility

The notion of social possibility is, in many respects, central to the conceptual foundations of modern social theory. This thesis draws upon results from possible worlds semantics and modal logics of knowledge to develop a framework for reasoning about social possibility and the epistemic states of social agents. The framework is then used to reason about the cognitive structure and emancipatory character of critical theories. The thesis concludes with an examination of the notion of social possibility in light of recent social thought, with particular emphasis on Roberto Unger's Politics. Thesis Supervisor: John R. Ehrenfeld Title: Senior Research Associate and Lecturer