A causal theory of suppositional reasoning

Philosophical Studies 2026 Open access

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Authors: Alexander Gebharter, Christian J. Feldbacher-Escamilla, Michał Sikorski
DOI: 10.1007/s11098-025-02472-z
Cited by: 1
References: 13

Abstract

Abstract Suppositions can be classified as indicative versus subjunctive and full versus partial. We propose a causal account of suppositional reasoning that naturally unifies all four types of reasoning based on this classification, provides a justification of the rather heterogenous canonical update rules, and gives rise to a new update rule for the partial subjunctive case in terms of generalized imaging.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Logic Reasoning and Knowledge Multi-Agent Systems and Negotiation Philosophy and Theoretical Science

Publication details

Journal / source
Philosophical Studies
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
183
Issue
2
Pages
743–756
Publication date
28 January 2026
Language
EN