What does contingent mean? – Definition, History, and More

Contingent Definition

A contingent is a way of being or characteristic of something as to what may or may not be, depending on the case (not necessary but possible).

In general, it predicates the states of things, facts, events, or propositions, needs and it is normal to misunderstand.

There is a debate about whether it is acceptable to talk about contingent entities, known as the debate.

In modal logic, a formula is said to be contingency when it is right in at least one possible world and false in another.

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What is the History of Contingent?

1. Aristotle opposed contingency to necessity, a notion that collects in the Middle Ages by Thomas Aquinas.
2. The contingent being is one that is not by itself but by another. So, it can be and not be. It doesn’t need to be.
3. It is not the case of God, whose existence for Thomas Aquinas is necessary: God cannot exist.
4. Subsequently, Gottfried Leibniz used the distinction between contingency and necessity to show the difference between truths and revelations.
5. Hence, the contingent statements or statements may be right or may be false. A comment of it does not need to be faithful.
6. The denial of a statement does not imply falling into contradiction. On the other hand, the denial of a necessary statement is contradictory.

What is the Contingent in Logic and Philosophy?

In modal philosophy and logic, a mode of being is called emergency of that which is neither necessary nor impossible. The contingency preaches from the states of things and the propositions:

• In modal logic, a formula is contingent when it is right in at least one possible world, even if it is false in others.
• According to philosophy, it is what it can be but also may not be, as opposed to what is necessary, which is what it can be.
• Everything that is possible to occur, but not everything possible is contingent because what is necessary is also possible.
• Also, an event may not be required and at the same time, not be a contingency, because the impossible is neither essential nor contingent.

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