Strange Days Have Found Us

Abstract Many authors who reject the vacuous truth of counterpossibles still adopt a strangeness of impossibility condition (SIC): possible worlds are always closer than impossible ones. Others doubt that SIC holds across the board. I situate the debate between linguistics and other disciplines. Then I weigh considerations of conservativity, systematicity and intuitiveness against counterexamples to SIC and purported theoretical benefits of abandoning SIC. My result is that neither the supporting nor the opposing evidence so far is compelling. The most plausible hypothesis is that SIC holds for a ‘standard resolution’ of the vagueness of counterpossibles, but that it can be overridden by context and pragmatic considerations even when counterpossibles are assessed ‘out of the blue’.