What do 'Necessary and Contingent' Mean? - Gentleman Thinker

What is necessary? What is contingent? What is the difference?

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[racoon]

oh my god i totally came across these videos when i took philosophy my freshman year and then started watching your more recent videos during lockdown of the same year? i never noticed these were on the same channel

[stephenkirby]

Saul Kripke nails the answer to this little philosophical puzzle regarding accessing The Truth, which is the truth in all possible worlds.

[elliottmcollins]

A statement is *contingent* if it's true in some but not all possible worlds. To be Contingently True, it also has to be true in this world.

Would love to hear more about possible world semantics!

[nichande]

It seems like the only necessary truths are logical, abstract, or hypothetical. I mean a is a doesn't say anything about a. It seems like the necessary contingent distinction is similar to the analytic synthetic distinction. Analytic truths are true by virtue of the meaning of terms and don't have to relate to anything that exists, I think

[rekall]

hadn't ever thought of 'necessary' and 'contingent' w/ respect to possible-worlds theory... and i can dig it!

[combatbrony]

You just became best channel by having derpy all bronies are happy right now

[globalvillage]

truth by definition is really more of an empty truth than a necessary truth

[abguitar]

All thanks to you, you got me obsessed about Olivia Wilde.

[lpkzc]

If something is contingently true does it mean it must be contingently false?

[DelandaBaudLacanian]

Isn't there a world where "bachelor" might have a different meaning? I will never understand the necessary/contingent distinction lol.

[mathymathymathy]

Are there any contingent truths at all, by Kripke's definition? If this world is the only possible world, all truths would be necessarily true. If X is true in our world, then for X to be contingently true it would mean that it was possible for X to be false. However, if the Universe kept going with the exact same laws of physics, it would be impossible for X to be false. (This is similar to the argument in the free will video). Thus, can there be said to be any contingent truths at all?

[fahnikan]

The "bachelor" example could have been false if the English language defined "bachelor" differently, no? It is not a necessary truth, is it?

[noticias]

I actually didn't understand the examples w/Olivia Wilde. How is her being 5'7'' *contigently* true?. Is b/c you are only *claiming* that is her height with a guess ?.Is it b/c she can decrease in stature when she's elderly?. I didn't understand the example with saying that Olivia Wilde being 90 ft tall is contigently false. Does contigent mean something like *conditionally [x] * ?.

[mishapurser]

Are contingent and possibility synonymous?

[teckyify]

Contingency I find is better characterized by "possible but not necessary".

[Atavist]

Is necessary and contingent the same as the Kantian "analytical and synthetic"? If so, didn't Kant describe mathematics as synthetic a priori in Critique of Pure Reason?
Anyone who understands Kant better than me who can educate me?

[asdfjkloe]

"Something is contingently true, if it is true in one possible world, but not all"
Wouldn't that mean that the sentence "Olivia Wilde is 8 feet tall" is true, since it is logically possible?

[marcelgoethals]

Surely, there is nothing that holds true in ALL possible worlds. There must be a world in which some bachelors are married. You could argue that it is true 'by definition': one who is unmarried is a bachelor, therefore all bachelors are unmarried. But the concept of 'height' is equally just a definition: one foot is such and such therefore Olivia is 5 foot. I don't really see the difference...

[huntertony]

whats your opinion on Inspring Philosophy?

[QuthTheRaven]

are you suggesting there's a world where a human could be 98 feet tall? I believe thats an error of categories.