Single Idea 13854

[catalogued under 10. Modality / B. Possibility / 8. Conditionals / e. Supposition conditionals]

Full Idea

It is often necessary to suppose (or assume) that some epistemic possibility is true, and to consider what else would be the case, or would be likely to be the case, given this supposition. The conditional expresses the outcome of such thought processes.

Gist of Idea

Conditionals express what would be the outcome, given some supposition

Source

Dorothy Edgington (Do Conditionals Have Truth Conditions? [1986], 1)

Book Reference

'A Philosophical Companion to First-Order Logic', ed/tr. Hughes,R.I.G. [Hackett 1993], p.29


A Reaction

This is the basic Edgington view. It seems to involve an active thought process, and imagination, rather than being the static semantic relations offered by possible worlds analyses. True conditionals state relationships in the world.