Counterfactual Conditional
Updated 2026-08-11
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A counterfactual conditional is a statement of the form that if p then q, in which p is known to be false, as in that if he had not gone he would not have been late. Its logic is not settled by whether p is true, since p is not, but by what holds in the closest worlds in which p is true, which is why it is the form in which causal and modal claims are most naturally expressed. It bridges the actual and the possible without pretending the possible is real.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Mark the violated premise: state which fact the conditional contradicts. - Check the closest world: ask what holds in the nearest scenario where the premise is true. - Use it for attribution: reason about causes through what did not happen.
Anchor fast decisions
The truth of a counterfactual is evaluated in an alternative possible world rather than in the actual one, which is what gives the form its causal content: it reasons about dependence between events by varying one while holding the rest fixed. No observation can confirm or refute it, so its standards are coherence and closeness rather than correspondence.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfactual_conditionalverified
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