Contingency (philosophy)

Article on other languages:

• Kontingence
• Kontingenz_(Philosophie)
• Contingencia
• Contingence
• Kontingenteso
• Kontingenz
• Contingentie
• 偶然
• Contingência
• Kontingens

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In philosophy and logic, contingency is the status of facts that are not logically necessarily true or false.

In philosophy and logic, people draw a distinction between

• possibility: "If it happened, it must be possible" -- If an act happened, it must be a possible act. A possible statement is not necessarily false. A "possibility", such as a coincidence, is either a "contingency", or a "necessity" (but not both).
• contingency: a contingent act is an act which "could have not happened". Each contingent act is also a possible act, but not vice versa. A contingent statement is not necessarily false, but it is not necessarily true either.
• necessity: a necessary act is an act which "could not have not happened. In other words, a necessary act inevitably must have happened. Each necessary act is also a possible act, but not vice versa. A necessary statement is a statement that is necessarily true, such as a tautology.

References

• Michael Shermer, "Glorious Contingency," Metanexus Net [1]

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