Counterfactual Conditionals : Orthodoxy and its Challenges

There is an intense debate in the philosophy of language and linguistics on so-called counterfactual conditionals. I shall introduce what I take to be the standard view: First, counterfactuals have truth–conditions. Second, these truth–conditions can be spelled out in terms of possible worlds. Third, the possible worlds deciding on the truth or falsity of a counterfactual are those that minimally differ from the actual world. Then I shall point out selected challenges to the standard view.