Ceteris Paribus Conditionals and Comparative Normalcy

Springer Science and Business Media LLC - Tập 36 - Trang 97-121 - 2006
Martin Smith1
1Department of Philosophy, University of York, Heslington, UK

Tóm tắt

Our understanding of subjunctive conditionals has been greatly enhanced through the use of possible world semantics and, more precisely, by the idea that they involve variably strict quantification over possible worlds. I propose to extend this treatment to ceteris paribus conditionals – that is, conditionals that incorporate a ceteris paribus or ‘other things being equal’ clause. Although such conditionals are commonly invoked in scientific theorising, they traditionally arouse suspicion and apprehensiveness amongst philosophers. By treating ceteris paribus conditionals as a species of variably strict conditional I hope to shed new light upon their content and their logic.

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Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Tập 36

97-121

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