Counterfactual Fallacies

  • Andrea Iacona University of L‘Aquila, Italy.
Keywords: fallacies

Abstract

A widely accepted claim about counterfactuals is that they differ from strict conditionals, that is, there is no adequate representation of them as sentences of the form   . To justify this claim, Stalnaker and Lewis have argued that some fallacious inferences would turn out valid if counterfactuals were so represented. However, their argument has a flaw, as it rests on a questionable assumption about the relation between surface grammar and logical form. Without that assumption, no consequence of the alleged kind is obtained, hence the claim may be rejected.

Published
2018-05-24
How to Cite
Iacona, A. (2018). Counterfactual Fallacies. HUMANA.MENTE Journal of Philosophical Studies, 4(19), 1-9. Retrieved from https://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/14