Mark T. Nelson

Some beginning logic students find it hard to understand why a material conditional is true when its antecedent is false. I draw an analogy between conditional statements and conditional promises (especially between true conditional statements and unbroken conditional promises) that makes this point of logic less counter-intuitive.

This paper is an ethical reflection on the real-life case of "Angela", a highly intelligent but severely anorexic young woman who wishes to refuse all but palliative treatment. It is part of CQHE's "Ethics Committees and Consultants at Work" series, in response to the essay, "Starving for Perfection."

I borrow an idea from the fiction of C. S. Lewis that future outcomes may affect the value of past events. I explain and defend this idea via the concept of a "temporal whole", and then show its promise as a part of a theodicy, and its resonance with Christian theism in general.