The Great Art of Modeling
Johan van Benthem

Abstract:
‘Possible worlds semantics’ for modal logic is a widely used 
term, sometimes with ominous metaphysical connotations, but 
what does this style of modeling involve today? We discuss 
three main issues, using epistemic logic as a running example, 
and drawing upon both mathematical results and practices in 
the expertise of working researchers. Our first question is 
a foundational one: how does one associate a type of model 
with a language, and what considerations affect that choice? 
Our focus is on invariance and definability results, familiar 
from the mathematical and computational tradition, though less 
so in philosophy. The second question is less deep, but maybe 
even more challenging in practice: once we have chosen a type 
of models for a language, how does one select and then maintain 
models appropriate to concrete scenarios of application? While 
there is a lot of ‘art’ to this in the literature, there is 
very little ‘science’ of model construction for modal logics. 
We show how this works in dynamic epistemic logics, and 
identify some current challenges for a true ‘modeling theory’ 
as opposed to the more abstract usual ‘model theory’. Finally, 
we discuss the pervasive tension between ‘thin’ and ‘thick’ 
worlds in modal logic, using examples from game theory, and 
pointing out how the contrast can be made fruitful.

Keywords: model, philosophical logic, epistemic logic,dynamic logic