Single Idea 18828

[catalogued under 10. Modality / B. Possibility / 1. Possibility]

Full Idea

Two possibilities are incompatible when no possibility determines both.

Gist of Idea

If two possibilities can't share a determiner, they are incompatible

Source

Ian Rumfitt (The Boundary Stones of Thought [2015], 7.1)

Book Reference

Rumfitt,Ian: 'The Boundary Stones of Thought' [OUP 2015], p.185


A Reaction

This strikes me as just the right sort of language for building up a decent metaphysical picture of the world, which needs to incorporate possibilities as well as actualities.

Related Ideas

Idea 18826 'True at a possibility' means necessarily true if what is said had obtained [Rumfitt]

Idea 18829 The truth grounds for 'not A' are the possibilities incompatible with truth grounds for A [Rumfitt]