You are viewing the historical archive of The Philosophy Forum.
For current discussions, visit the live forum.
Go to live forum

What is "metaphysical contingency"?

KantDane21 May 30, 2022 at 17:41 2800 views 11 comments
I have always thought is something is metaphysically contingent is simply means that something, a state of affairs, MAY be the case. Tomorrow I may stub my foot on a nail and feel pain. This happening is metaphysically contingent. It is not a fortiori possible.
However, I am reading (or attempting to) read a paper by Braddon-Mitchel now, and he talks of "no-futurism", "eternalism" and all these other concepts in relation to metaphysical contingency, and, to be frank, I am confused.

Comments (11)

Jackson May 30, 2022 at 17:44 #702893
Reply to KantDane21

If you post a specific text then others might be able to comment.
KantDane21 May 30, 2022 at 17:51 #702896
Reply to Jackson cheers, this one here: David Baddon-Mitchell, David. 2004. « How do we know it is now now? » Analysis 64 (283): 199–203....
it is one of the key concepts he frequently refers to... thanks!
Agent Smith May 30, 2022 at 19:28 #702938
Metaphysically contingent: Dependent on metaphysical concepts/entities for some property/quality/feature in part/as a whole.

Murder, essentially a causal argument, is metaphysically contingent on causality.

My two cents!
jgill May 30, 2022 at 19:33 #702944
The word metaphysical itself is ill-defined. This is a step further into the void.
Agent Smith May 30, 2022 at 19:44 #702956
[quote=jgill]The word metaphysical itself is ill-defined. This is a step further into the void.[/quote]

:snicker:
Cuthbert May 31, 2022 at 12:35 #703395
Quoting KantDane21
How do we know it is now now?


Because when you misbehave in class the teacher says: "Now, now!" It's a simple matter of classroom discipline. Some teachers say "Now, then!", but their theory is quite incoherent in my view.

Relativist May 31, 2022 at 15:21 #703441
Quoting KantDane21
I have always thought is something is metaphysically contingent is simply means that something, a state of affairs, MAY be the case.

That's right. More precisely: x is metahysically contingent = possibly*(x) &possibly*(~x)

*referring to metaphysical possibility = actual possibility, not merely epistemically possible or conceptually possible


[Quote]Tomorrow I may stub my foot on a nail and feel pain.[/quote]
It depends: does the universe evolve deterministically? If yes, then there is exactly one metaphysically possible outcome. We're ignorant of the future, so we don't know which, but this entails epistemic possibility, not metaphysical possibility.

charles ferraro June 01, 2022 at 02:18 #703671
Reply to KantDane21

Absent a Deus ex machina, personal existence is experientially contingent because it does not have to be.
Banno June 01, 2022 at 02:24 #703672
Quoting Cuthbert
Because when you misbehave in class the teacher says: "Now, now!" It's a simple matter of classroom discipline. Some teachers say "Now, then!", but their theory is quite incoherent in my view.


That sort of argument is for recalcitrants. Before then, an effective teacher will have used The Eye. Under that unyielding gaze the more amenable students will develop an effective understanding of both The Now and The Other.
magritte June 03, 2022 at 14:54 #704682
Reply to KantDane21 D.B-M said,
I argue that on the growing salami view, it is almost certainly not
now. It is not now now; or less tendentiously, the current time is probably
not the present

magritte June 03, 2022 at 14:57 #704683
Quoting jgill
The word metaphysical itself is ill-defined. This is a step further into the void.


It is. But that's the fault of people who insist on using ill-defined fundamental concepts in a perverse manner to confuse themselves.