The Actual, the Counterfactual, and the Possible
Kilu von Prince
The asymmetry between the past and present as opposed to the future has inspired one of the oldest puzzles in philosophy and temporal logic. The modern solution to this puzzle consists in a branching-time model that creates a binary distinction between a settled past/present and an open, branching future. New observations from Oceanic languages of Melanesia, in combination with philosophical innovations, suggest an expansion of this model, to include the counterfactual as distinct from the actual past and present and the possible future. In my talk, I will trace my motivations for developing this tripartite model and show how it also facilitates a new understanding of related puzzles. In particular, I will talk about the relation between the past and the counterfactual (as in ‘I wish I had more time’); and about the relation between modal flavours/bases/ordering sources and the modality expressed in different types of conditionals.