The Future
This chapter elucidates the notion of a fact as a prelude to considering whether there can be future facts, and whether and when we can speak of a prediction as true. The consequences for fatalism of the arguments are noted. The use of ‘true’ in application to conditional propositions is discussed, and the differences in this context between present-tense and future-tense verbs is explained. This leads on to a consideration of the modal character of ‘will’ and of the behaviour distinctive of ‘shall’. Questions involving precognition, freedom, and causation are then considered.
Keywords: future, fact, fatalism, conditional, precognition, causation
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