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CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condic...

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 851 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CONDITION (See also:Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)  , a stipulation, agreement . The See also:term is applied technically to any circumstance, See also:action or event which is regarded as the indispensable prerequisite of some other circumstance, action or event . It is also applied generally to the sum of the circumstances in which a See also:person is situated, and more specifically to favourable or prosperous circumstances; thus a person of See also:wealth or See also:birth is described as a person " of See also:condition," or an See also:athlete as being " in condition," i.e. physically See also:fit, having gone through the necessary course of preliminary training . In all these senses there is implicit the See also:idea of See also:limitation or See also:restraint imposed with a view to the attainment of a particular end . (I) In See also:Logic, the term " condition " is closely related to " cause " in so far as it is applied to See also:prior events, &c., in the See also:absence of which another event would not take See also:place . It is, however, different from " cause " inasmuch as it has a pre-dominantly negative or passive significance . Hence the See also:adjective " conditional " is applied to propositions in which the truth of the See also:main statement is made to depend on the truth of another; these propositions are distinguished from categorical propositions, which simply See also:state a fact, as being " composed of two categorical propositions See also:united by a See also:conjunction," e.g. if A is B, C is D . The second statement (the " consequent ") is restricted or qualified by the first (the " antecedent ") . By some logicians these propositions are classified as (I) Hypothetical, and (2) Disjunctive, and their See also:function in syllogistic reasoning gives rise to the following See also:classification of conditional arguments: (a) Constructive hypothetical See also:syllogism (modus ponens, " affirmative See also:mood "): If A is B, C is D; but A is B; therefore C is D . (b) Destructive hypothetical syllogism (modus tollens, mood which "removes," i.e. the consequent): if A is B, C is D; but C is not D; therefore A is not B . In (a) the antecedent must be affirmed, .in (b) the consequent must be denied; otherwise'the arguments become fallacious . A second class of conditional arguments are disjunctive syllogisms consisting of (c) the modus ponendo tollens: A is either B or C; but A is B; therefore C is not D; and (d) modus tollendo ponens: A is either B or C; A is not B; therefore A is C .

A more complicated conditional See also:

argument is the See also:dilemma (q.v.).1 The limiting or restrictive significance of " condition " has led to its use in metaphysical theory in contradistinction to the conception of See also:absolute being, the aseitas of the Schoolmen . ' The terminology used above has not been adopted by all logicians . " Conditional " has been used as See also:equivalent to " hypothetical " in the widest sense (including ' disjunctive ") ; or narrowed down to be synonymous with " conjunctive " (the condition being there more explicit), as a subdivision of " hypothetical." Thus all finite things exist in certain relations not only to all other things but also to thought; in other words, all finite existence is " conditioned." Hence See also:Sir Wm . See also:Hamilton speaks of the " See also:philosophy of the unconditioned," i.e. of thought in distinction to things which are determined by thought in relation to other things . An analogous distinction is made (cf . H . W . B . See also:Joseph, Introduction to Logic, pp . 38o fall.) between the so-called universal lawi of nature and conditional principles, which, though they are regarded as having the force of See also:law, are yet dependent or derivative, i.e. cannot be treated as universal truths . Such principles hold See also:good under See also:present conditions, but other conditions might be imagined under which they would be invalid; they hold good only as corollaries from the See also:laws of nature under existing conditions . (2) In Law, condition in its See also:general sense is a restraint annexed to a thing, so that by the non-performance the party to it shall receive See also:prejudice and loss, and by the performance commodity or See also:advantage .

Conditions may be either: (1) condition in a See also:

deed or See also:express condition, i.e. the condition being expressed in actual words; or (2) condition in law or implied condition, i.e. where, although no condition is actually expressed, the law implies a condition . The word is also used indifferently to mean either the event upon the happening of which some See also:estate or See also:obligation is to begin or end, or the See also:provision or stipulation that the estate or obligation will depend upon the happening of the event . A condition may be of several kinds: (I) a condition precedent, where, for example, an estate is granted to one for See also:life upon condition that, if the grantee pay the grantor a certain sum on such a See also:day, he shall have the See also:fee See also:simple; (2) a condition subsequent, where, for. example, an estate is granted in fee upon condition that the grantee shall pay a certain sum on a certain day, or that his estate shall cease . Thus a condition precedent gets or gains, while a condition subsequent keeps and continues . A condition may also be affirmative, that is, the doing of an See also:act; negative, the not doing of an act; restrictive, compulsory, &c . The word is also used adjectivally in the sense set out above, as in the phrases " conditional See also:legacy," " conditional limitation," " conditional promise," &c.; that is, the Iegacy, the limitation, the promise is to take effect only upon the happening of a certain event .

End of Article: CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)
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