Classical counterpossibles

Rohan French, Patrick Girard, Dave Ripley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present four classical theories of counterpossibles that combine modalities and counterfactuals. Two theories are anti-vacuist and forbid vacuously true counterfactuals, two are quasi-vacuist and allow counterfactuals to be vacuously true when their antecedent is not only impossible, but also inconceivable. The theories vary on how they restrict the interaction of modalities and counterfactuals. We provide a logical cartography with precise acceptable boundaries, illustrating to what extent nonvacuism about counterpossibles can be reconciled with classical logic.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)259-275
Number of pages17
JournalReview of Symbolic Logic
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2022

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