The ten kinds of conditionals and Chrysippus’ criterion

Abstract

The theory of mental models proposed ten possible interpretations for the conditional. In particular, Johnson-Laird and Byrne provided those interpretations in 2002. On the other hand, in ancient times, Chrysippus of Soli claimed that conditionals have to fulfill a requirement: the negation of their consequents must be inconsistent with their antecedents. This paper considers the ten interpretations of the conditional the theory of mental models indicates as ten different kinds of conditionals. Thus, it analyzes those ten types from Chrysippus’ requirement. The results show that the ten kinds of conditionals that can be derived from the theses of the theory of mental models follow the criterion given by Chrysippus. Accordingly, it can be thought that the criterion refers to an essential characteristic of the conditional.