philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, a state of affairs (german: Sachverhalt), also known as a situation, is a way the

actual world A possible world is a complete and consistent way the world is or could have been. Possible worlds are widely used as a formal device in logic, philosophy, and linguistics in order to provide a semantics for intensional and modal logic. Their m ...

must be in order to make some given ''proposition'' about the actual world true; in other words, a state of affairs is a ''truth-maker'', whereas a

proposition In logic and linguistics, a proposition is the meaning of a declarative sentence. In philosophy, " meaning" is understood to be a non-linguistic entity which is shared by all sentences with the same meaning. Equivalently, a proposition is the no ...

is a ''truth-bearer''. Whereas states of affairs either ''obtain'' or ''fail-to-obtain'', propositions are either ''true'' or ''false''. Some philosophers understand the term "states of affairs" in a more restricted sense as a synonym for "

fact A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...

". In this sense, there are no states of affairs that do not obtain.

David Malet Armstrong David Malet Armstrong (8 July 1926 – 13 May 2014), often D. M. Armstrong, was an Australian philosopher. He is well known for his work on metaphysics and the philosophy of mind, and for his defence of a factualist ontology, a functiona ...

is well known for his defence of a factualism, a position according to which the world is a world of facts and not a world of things.

Overview

States of affairs are complex entities: they are built up from or constituted by other entities. Atomic states of affairs are constituted by one

particular In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with universals. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed to a ...

and one

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

exemplified by this particular. For example, the state of affairs that Socrates is wise is constituted by the particular "Socrates" and the property "wise". Relational states of affairs involve several particulars and a relation connecting them. States of affairs that ''obtain'' are also referred to as

facts A flexible alternating current transmission system (FACTS) is a system composed of static equipment used for the alternating current (AC) transmission of electrical energy. It is meant to enhance controllability and increase power transfer capabi ...

. It is controversial which ontological status should be ascribed to states of affairs that do not obtain. States of affairs have been prominent in 20th-century ontology as various theories were proposed to describe the world as composed of states of affairs. In a sense of "state of affairs" favored by

Ernest Sosa Ernest Sosa (born June 17, 1940) is an American philosopher primarily interested in epistemology. Since 2007 he has been Board of Governors Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, but he spent most of his career at Brown University. Educa ...

, states of affairs are situational conditions. In fact, in the ''

Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy ''The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy'' (1995; second edition 1999; third edition 2015) is a dictionary of philosophy published by Cambridge University Press and edited by the philosopher Robert Audi Robert N. Audi (born November 1941) is an ...

'',

, 1999. "Condition". ''Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy''. R.Audi, Ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. p. 171. Sosa defines a condition to be a state of affairs, "way things are" or situation—most commonly referred to by a

nominalization In linguistics, nominalization or nominalisation is the use of a word that is not a noun (e.g., a verb, an adjective or an adverb) as a noun, or as the head of a noun phrase. This change in functional category can occur through morphological tr ...

of a sentence. The expression "Snow's being white", which refers to the condition snow's being white, is a nominalization of the sentence "Snow is white". "The

truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...

of the proposition that "snow is white" is a nominalization of the sentence "the proposition that snow is white is true". Snow's being white is a necessary and sufficient condition for the truth of the proposition that snow is white. Conditions in this sense may be called situational. Usually,

necessity and sufficiency In logic and mathematics, necessity and sufficiency are terms used to describe a material conditional, conditional or implicational relationship between two Statement (logic), statements. For example, in the Conditional sentence, conditional stat ...

relate conditions of the same kind. Being an animal is a necessary attributive condition for being a dog. Fido's being an animal is a necessary situational condition for Fido's being a dog.

Notes

References

* Matthew Roberts (2006)
''A Historical Survey and Conceptual Account of States of Affairs''
Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder. *

Jesús Padilla Gálvez Jesús Padilla Gálvez (xe'sus pa'ðiʎa 'ɣalβeθ) (born October 28, 1959) is a philosopher who worked primarily in philosophy of language, logic, and the history of sciences. Professional biography Jesús Padilla Gálvez studied Philosophy, ...

(2021), ''State of Affairs. Reconstructing the Controversy over Sachverhalt''. Philosophia Verlag, München, 2021. (ISBN: 978-3-88405-131-3). Philosophical logic Ontology Reality Analysis {{Epistemology-stub

Overview

See also

Notes

References