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
Labels: conditionals (general), modifiers
posted by dovester @ 1:40 PM
2 Comments:
Some GRE advice:
(1) Even if you don't have time to answer all the questions, you can guess.
This doesn't entail its consequent, but what does "even" attach to?
(1') If you don't have time to answer even all the questions, you can guess.
Does that sound forced?
Or (1''): If you don't have time to even answer all the questions, you can guess,
which also seems forced, and it's unclear what "even" attaches to here.
I'm recovering from surgery and am on pain pills, so I hope this makes sense.
Jesse
It's a little unclear whether (1) entails its consequent, so try this:
(1''')Even if you don't have time to answer all the questions, you should guess,
which is true and for-sure doesn't entail its consequent.
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