Conditional Statement

A Conditional Statement is a statement that includes a conditional main clause.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) have an Antecedent Clause.
  • It can (typically) have a Consequent Clause.
  • ...
  • It can range from being an Indicative Conditional to being a Counterfactual Conditional.
  • It can range from being a Factual-Implication Conditional Statement to being a Hypothetical-Implication Conditional Statement.
  • ...
  • It can establish relationships between clauses, such as:
    • Causal Relationships where the antecedent causes or influences the consequent.
    • Logical Implication Relationships where the truth of one clause necessitates the truth of another.
    • Temporal Relationships where the sequence of events in clauses matters.
    • Dependency Relationships where one clause's relevance depends on another's truth value.
    • Bidirectional Relationships where clauses mutually imply each other.
  • It can serve functions, such as:
    • expressing hypothetical scenarios
    • establishing logical inferences
    • defining rule conditions
    • specifying behavioral constraints
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • Conditional Sentences (linguistic sentences), such as:
    • "If they were available anywhere, I would pay any price for them."
    • "If he were a good friend, he would buy them for me."
  • Conditional Software Statements (software statements), such as:
    • "if (temperature > 30) { activate_cooling(); }"
    • "while (counter <= 10) { process_item(counter); }"
  • Conditional Rule Statements (rule statements), such as:
    • "If a student's GPA falls below 2.0, they will be placed on academic probation."
    • "When rainfall exceeds 50mm, flood warnings must be issued."
  • Counterfactual Conditional Statements (counterfactual statements), such as:
    • "If Abraham Lincoln had not been assassinated, Reconstruction might have proceeded differently."
    • "Had the dinosaurs not gone extinct, mammals might not have become dominant."
  • Indicative Conditional Statements (indicative statements), such as:
    • "If Oswald did not shoot Kennedy, then someone else did."
    • "If it's raining outside, then the ground is wet."
  • Conditional Contract Provisions (contract provisions), such as:
    • "If annual sales exceed $1 million, the commission rate shall increase to 12%."
    • "Should either party breach this agreement, the non-breaching party may terminate upon 30 days' notice."
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Arithmetic Operations (e.g., "2 + 2 = 4")
  • Declarative Statements (e.g., "The sky is blue")
  • Imperative Statements (e.g., "Close the door")
  • Definition Statements (e.g., "A triangle has three sides")
• See: Material Conditional, Strict Conditional, Hypothetical Statement, Unreal Statement, Nested Logical Dependency.

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References

2021

• (Wikipedia, 2021) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/conditional_statement Retrieved:2021-3-9.
  • A conditional statement may refer to:
    • A conditional formula in logic and mathematics, which can be interpreted as:
      • Material conditional.
      • Strict conditional.
      • Variably strict conditional.
      • Relevance conditional.
    • A conditional sentence in natural language, including:
      • Indicative conditional.
      • Counterfactual conditional.
      • Biscuit conditional.
    • Conditional (computer programming), a conditional statement in a computer programming language

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