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Philosophy vocabulary · Logic and Argument

Sufficient condition

Meaning in philosophy, with examples

nounCommon term

In philosophy, sufficient condition means: A condition that, once it is met, guarantees that something is true or will happen, even if there are other ways it could also come about.

In Turkish: yeter koşul, yeterli koşul

How it is used

A is a sufficient condition for B if whenever A holds, B holds too (if A, then B). When philosophers define a concept they look for necessary and sufficient conditions; 'if and only if' (iff) expresses both together.

Example sentences

  1. Being a square is a sufficient condition for being a rectangle.

  2. Gettier showed that justified true belief is not a sufficient condition for knowledge.

Common collocations

  • necessary and sufficient conditions
  • a sufficient condition for
  • if and only if
  • jointly sufficient
  • necessary conditionA condition that must be met for something to be true or to happen, although meeting it alone may not be enough.
  • logicThe study of correct reasoning, especially of which conclusions follow from which premises and why.
  • entailTo make something logically necessary: if A entails B, then B must be true whenever A is true.
  • knowledgeKnowing that something is the case; traditionally defined as a belief that is true and properly justified, although this definition is disputed.

More terms: Logic and Argument

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