Problem of future contingents

High school (ages 12+)
Philosophy & Big Questions

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/problem-of-future-contingents

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary source text?Aristotle's 'De Interpretatione' (On Interpretation)
2. What is the key philosophical challenge?Reconciling temporal truth with contingency and free will
3. What is a future contingent?It’s a statement about something that might happen, like "It will rain tomorrow," that isn’t fixed yet.
4. Why does Aristotle think a future event could be necessary?He says if we say "There will be a sea battle tomorrow" is true now, it must have been true before, so it seems fixed.

Necessity: A state of affairs that must be the case and cannot be otherwise.
Contingency: A state of affairs that is not necessary; it could be otherwise.
Fatalism: The belief that all events are predetermined and inevitable, regardless of human action.
Modal Logic: A system of logic that deals with concepts of necessity, possibility, and contingency.