Condition (philosophy)

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A condition or condition ( Latin condicio , English condition ) is the partial statement of a sentence connected with if, if ( conditional ) or because ( causal ), which produces a consequence or effect thus conditioned .

The German word “condition” has been proven to have existed since Martin Luther at the latest .

Sufficient and necessary condition

The (conditional and sufficient) condition is the antecedent of a subjunction or an implication . A distinction is made between

  • more necessary and
  • sufficient condition:

If a circumstance A is a prerequisite (necessary condition) for another circumstance B to occur, the mere presence of A does not mean that B actually occurs. However, if A is a sufficient condition for B, then B will surely occur if A is present.

The necessary condition A for a sequence B is also called replication. The following applies: If B then A.

Example from differential calculus when evaluating the first derivative: A necessary condition for the presence of a local extreme value of a function at a point is that the first derivative of the function is zero ( ). However, this is not a sufficient condition for the existence of an extreme value: Only by examining the curvature behavior of the first derivative (or sometimes by examining the second derivative) does one know whether there really is a local extreme value there, i.e. whether the condition is sufficient is satisfied.

Conditional probability

Main article: Conditional probability

Conditional probability (also conditional probability) is the probability of the occurrence of an event A under the condition that an event B occurs.

Causal condition

In certain contexts (technical language mostly in the natural sciences) the condition is also used causally (with because instead of if ).

The condition is then the linguistic formulation of the cause (causa) of an effect.

  • In the biological and medical sciences, earlier stages of development are the condition for later ones: the growth of the embryo is a condition for the birth of a person.
  • In physics and other natural sciences, a starting situation and the validity of natural laws are the conditions for the emergence of subsequent situations.

Legal condition

Main article: Condition (right)

The human ability to act (in technical terms mostly in the humanities) is also dependent on conditions.

If work (for example in an employment contract) is made dependent on a monetary payment, it is the condition for this payment.

In criminal law , a perpetrator is held responsible for an act if it was a necessary condition ( condicio sine qua non ) for the offense.

Condition in the history of philosophy

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In scholasticism , the sufficient connection of a condition was described as follows: If a condition is fixed, then the conditioned is also correct, and if the condition is canceled, the conditioned is also removed. (Posita conditione ponitur conditionatum, et sublata conditione tollitur conditionatum.) In the Middle Ages, God is the only absolute absolute. He is the (infinite) condition of the (finite) conditioned creation .

In his transcendental philosophy, the philosopher Immanuel Kant asks about the condition of the possibility of experience . This linguistic usage has meanwhile also been adopted in everyday language for other contexts.

See also

literature

  • Michael John Woods : Conditionals. Edited by David Wiggins. With a commentary by Dorothy Edginton. Oxford UP, Oxford 1997. - Review by Scott Sturgeon, in: Mind . New Series, Vol. 109, No. 433 (2000), pp. 179-183, online.

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