Project Details
Projekt
Alternatives for the future. On the role of real possibilities and historical conditionals for our hypothetical and counterfactual thinking and acting
Applicant
Professor Dr. Thomas Müller
Subject Area
Theoretical Philosophy
Term
from 2015 to 2019
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 185153653
The sub-project provides a fresh look on conditionals (if-then-statements) by focusing on the relevance of time-dependent possibilities (alternatives for the future). Three main aims are pursued. First, the project will provide a taxonomy of conditionals based on different notions of possibility, ranging from abstract, logical to concrete, time-dependent real possibilities. Second, we will develop an appropriate formal semantics for conditionals based on real possibilities, which we call historical conditionals (e.g., ¿If I had sped up yesterday, I would have caught the train.¿). That semantics has to explain why some historical conditionals are true and others, false. The semantics will use a representation of real possibilities via tree-like branching structures that provide an adequate representation of the temporal dynamics of possibilities. In the semantics we will also employ a recently developed approach to modeling alternatives for the future via so-called transitions, thereby avoiding problems of the common possible-worlds-based approach. Third, the new semantics will be used as a basis for a detailed investigation into the pragmatics of historical conditionals, enabling a deeper understanding of the role of historical conditionals in our thinking and acting.The project connects the applicant¿s previous substantial research on the notion of real possibility with the Forschergruppe¿s main aims: For the important class of historical conditionals, the role of conditionality as a tool will be investigated in depth. The question ¿What if X?¿ always refers to a possibility in which X is the case. For historical conditionals, this is, more precisely, a possibility in which X will be the case, or would have been the case. This connection of possibilities with time and reality is present not just at the level of single historical conditionals, but also at the discourse level up to whole alternative histories. The project will help to improve our understanding of the dynamics of conditionals at all these levels.
DFG Programme
Research Units
