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Single Idea 14270

[filed under theme 10. Modality / B. Possibility / 8. Conditionals / b. Types of conditional ]

Full Idea

Straightforward statements about the past, present or future, to which a conditional clause is attached - the traditional class of indicative conditionals - do (in my view) constitute a single semantic kind.

Gist of Idea

Simple indicatives about past, present or future do seem to form a single semantic kind

Source

Dorothy Edgington (Conditionals (Stanf) [2006], 1)

Book Ref

'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.2


A Reaction

This contrasts with Idea 14269, where the future indicatives are group instead with the counterfactuals.

Related Idea

Idea 14269 Maybe forward-looking indicatives are best classed with the subjunctives [Edgington]


The 14 ideas from 'Conditionals (Stanf)'

Simple indicatives about past, present or future do seem to form a single semantic kind [Edgington]
Maybe forward-looking indicatives are best classed with the subjunctives [Edgington]
Inferring conditionals from disjunctions or negated conjunctions gives support to truth-functionalism [Edgington]
Non-truth-functionalist say 'If A,B' is false if A is T and B is F, but deny that is always true for TT,FT and FF [Edgington]
I say "If you touch that wire you'll get a shock"; you don't touch it. How can that make the conditional true? [Edgington]
Conditional Proof is only valid if we accept the truth-functional reading of 'if' [Edgington]
The truth-functional view makes conditionals with unlikely antecedents likely to be true [Edgington]
Truth-function problems don't show up in mathematics [Edgington]
Truth-functionalists support some conditionals which we assert, but should not actually believe [Edgington]
On the supposition view, believe if A,B to the extent that A&B is nearly as likely as A [Edgington]
A thing works like formal probability if all the options sum to 100% [Edgington]
Conclusion improbability can't exceed summed premise improbability in valid arguments [Edgington]
Does 'If A,B' say something different in each context, because of the possibiites there? [Edgington]
Doctor:'If patient still alive, change dressing'; Nurse:'Either dead patient, or change dressing'; kills patient! [Edgington]