Single Idea 13764

[catalogued under 10. Modality / B. Possibility / 8. Conditionals / c. Truth-function conditionals]

Full Idea

Are conditionals truth-functional - do the truth values of A and B determine the truth value of 'If A, B'? Are they non-truth-functional, like 'because' or 'before'? Do the values of A and B, in some cases, leave open the value of 'If A,B'?

Gist of Idea

Are conditionals truth-functional - do the truth values of A and B determine the truth value of 'If A, B'?

Source

Dorothy Edgington (Conditionals [2001], 17.1)

Book Reference

'Blackwell Guide to Philosophical Logic', ed/tr. Goble,Lou [Blackwell 2001], p.386


A Reaction

I would say they are not truth-functional, because the 'if' asserts some further dependency relation that goes beyond the truth or falsity of A and B. Logical ifs, causal ifs, psychological ifs... The material conditional ⊃ is truth-functional.

Related Ideas

Idea 13765 'If A,B' must entail ¬(A & ¬B); otherwise we could have A true, B false, and If A,B true, invalidating modus ponens [Edgington]

Idea 14309 Truth-functional conditionals can't distinguish whether they are causal or accidental [Mumford]