A conditional is a sentence, statement, proposition, or thought of the form

If A then C

"A" is called the antecedent of the conditional and "C" the consequent. Philosophers have traditionally divided conditionals into two main groups, indicative, which can be symbolized as [A→C], and subjunctive ([A□→C]). The so-called counterfactual conditionals that have been the subject of so much discussion in analytic philosophy are subjunctive conditionals of the form

If it were to be the case that X then it would be the case that Y (if X were to happen, then Y would happen)

and

If it had been the case that X, then it would have been the case that Y (if X had happened, then Y would have happened)

Subjunctive conditionals of the form "If she be gone, he is in despair" are not at issue.

It is because the antecedents of such...