Even If

For class I assigned Chapter 17 of Bennett's A Philosophical Guide to Conditionals on Even If conditionals. One of the elements I want to examine is the so-called consequent entailment problem.

For which of the following examples do we think the conditional entails its consequent?

(1) You will fail the class even if you get an A on the final paper.

(2) Steve won't pay retail even if his life depends on it.

(3) Professor Prude will fly off the handle even if the class misbehaves a little.

The question is whether the cases that seem to count against consequent entailment are really cases of even if?

The alternative, of course, is that even attaches to some other element of the sentence.

A standard example:

(4) He'll lose his contract even if he is arrested once.

The suggestion:

(4') He'll lose his contract if he is arrested even once.

These are the same examples that seem to count in favor of even if having if as a truth condition.

(5) He'll lose his contract if he is arrested once.

What do you think?

--Ian