On Objectivism's Peculiar Possibility
Several objectivists that I have spoken to consider that, for a proposition (P) to be possible, it must meet the following criteria:
1. P must not be contrary to known fact.
2. There must be some evidence in favor of P.
Now, let us consider the proposition (P): 'John is a fireman.'
Imagine that we only know one fact concerning John, that he is 30 years old. Does P remain a possibility from the Objectivist's viewpoint? It seems not, for there is no evidence in favor of P. P is certainly not contrary to known fact, but it is dismissed as 'arbitrary' because (2) does not obtain.
Obviously, given our knowledge of John, it is possible that P. This portion of Objectivism obviously needs to be examined, keeping what we know about the concept 'possible' in mind. It may be that Objectivists reject modal logic, and take this position to remain consistent. I will report on this in the future.
posted by onceuponapriori at 3:27 م
