Possibility
The subject of possibility is a central topic in philosophy. It was frequently discussed in the history of philosophy, and it is actively debated by contemporary philosophers.
Historical Developments
Aristotle
The first comprehensive treatment of possibility occurs in the work of Aristotle. Aristotle's writing on this subject is difficult and confusing, but he seems to have held that the idea of possibility is derivative from that of necessity and negation, "It is possible that P" meaning "It is not necessary that not-P" (see On Interpretation 13.22b). Necessity of this basic kind is absolute necessity, and like absolute possibility it is applicable to sentences or propositions (logoi). According to his Posterior Analytics (4.21), a necessary proposition truly predicates something of a thing's essence; an example would be "A man is a rational being." A possible proposition, one that may be asserted to be such by a proposition containing the words "It is possible that … ," attributes an accident to a thing, an accident being a character that, because it is not excluded by a thing's essence, may or may not belong to it, as being seated may or may not belong to a man or woman. Because Aristotle held that what belongs to a thing's essence is given by a "real" definition, necessary propositions for him are either real definitions or logical consequences of such definitions.
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