# Contested concept: possible (modality)

_**What you are reading**: one contested-concept page in Deliberus's deliberation graph. Deliberus maps human reasoning — including claims that are contested, mistaken, or extreme — so that disagreement can be examined precisely. A claim's presence here is not an endorsement: the graph records that someone argued it, how it connects to other reasoning, and how far scrutiny has gotten. The metadata on this page describes the state of that scrutiny, not the truth of the claim._

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- **Contestedness**: semantic
- **Diagnosis**: The dispute over the definition masks a deeper dispute over whether logical modality entails fatalism.
- **Canonical**: `/concept/possible (modality)` (data: `/concept/possible (modality).json`)

## Senses in use
- **Capable of being true by the proposition's own nature** — used in 3 claim(s)
- **Middle position combining both systems, distinguishing possible from necessary truths** — used in 3 claim(s)
- **That which either is or will be true (implies fatalism)** — used in 3 claim(s)

## Claims using this term
- [Under Philo's definition of possible, a statement like "this piece of wood can burn" is possible, even if it spent its entire existence on …](/claim/claim_111a4d5389b4.md) _(sense: Capable of being true by the proposition's own nature)_
- [Chrysippus combined elements of both [Diodorus's and Philo's] modal systems.](/claim/claim_29927e419d21.md) _(sense: Middle position combining both systems, distinguishing possible from necessary truths)_
- [Diodorus defined possibility in a way which adopted a form of fatalism.](/claim/claim_2ee36c4ebc51.md) _(sense: That which either is or will be true (implies fatalism))_
- [Chrysippus took a middle position between Diodorus [Cronus] and Philo [on possibility and modality].](/claim/claim_501c59d1e5b2.md) _(sense: Middle position combining both systems, distinguishing possible from necessary truths)_
- [Chrysippus wanted to distinguish between possible and necessary truths.](/claim/claim_5719b89d5714.md) _(sense: Middle position combining both systems, distinguishing possible from necessary truths)_
- [Diodorus defined possible as "that which either is or will be true".](/claim/claim_7da96f376e79.md) _(sense: That which either is or will be true (implies fatalism))_
- [Thus, [given Diodorus's definition of possible as "that which either is or will be true"], there are no forever unrealised possibilities, w…](/claim/claim_9abf1ef9305a.md) _(sense: That which either is or will be true (implies fatalism))_
- [Philo, pupil of Diodorus Cronus, defined possible as "that which is capable of being true by the proposition's own nature", rejecting Diodo…](/claim/claim_ebeb4eecabde.md) _(sense: Capable of being true by the proposition's own nature)_
- [Philo rejected Diodorus Cronus' definition of possibility, which adopted a form of fatalism.](/claim/claim_fece205db09c.md) _(sense: Capable of being true by the proposition's own nature)_