Counterfactual thinking  

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-In the [[philosophy of language]] and [[modal logic]], a term is said to be a '''non-rigid designator''' (or '''flaccid designator''') or '''connotative term''' if it does not extensionally designate (denote, refer to) the same object in all [[possible worlds]]. This is in contrast to a [[rigid designator]], which does designate the same object in all possible worlds in which that object exists, and does not designate anything else in those worlds in which that object does ''not'' exist. The term was coined by [[Saul Kripke]] in his 1970 lecture series at [[Princeton University]], later published as the book ''[[Naming and Necessity]]''.+'''Counterfactual thinking''' is a concept in [[psychology]] that involves the human tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already occurred; something that is contrary to what actually happened. Counterfactual thinking is, as it states: "counter to the facts".
-==Examples==+==See also==
-As an example, consider the phrase "The 43rd [[President of the United States|President]] of the United States of America": while the 43rd President of the United States is ''actually'' [[George W. Bush]], things might have been different. Bush might have lost the election, meaning that the 43rd President might have been [[Al Gore]] or [[Ralph Nader]] instead. (''How remote'' these possible worlds are from the actual world is a discussion for [[many-worlds interpretation|physics]] and [[Counterfactual thinking|counterfactualism]].) "The 43rd President of the United States of America" is thus a non-rigid designator, picking out George W. Bush in some possible worlds, Al Gore in others, and yet other people in other worlds.+* [[Counterfactual history]]
 +* [[Parallel universe (disambiguation)]]
-Non-rigid designators are defined by contrast with Kripke's notion of a rigid designator, which picks out the same thing uniquely in ''every'' possible world; while there are possible worlds in which the 43rd President of the United States is Al Gore instead of George W. Bush, there are ''no'' possible worlds where ''George W. Bush'' is anyone other than the man who, in fact, he is. (There ''are'' worlds where some person other than George W. Bush is ''named'' "George W. Bush," but that's neither here nor there.) Kripke uses this apparent asymmetry to argue (in ''Naming and Necessity'') that no [[definite description]] can be the meaning of a [[proper name]], because names must always be rigid designators, while definite descriptions can designate non-rigidly. 
- 
-==Criticism== 
-Some philosophers, such as [[Gareth Evans (philosopher)|Gareth Evans]], have expressed doubt as to whether non-rigid expressions ought to be called ''designators'' at all. 
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Counterfactual thinking is a concept in psychology that involves the human tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already occurred; something that is contrary to what actually happened. Counterfactual thinking is, as it states: "counter to the facts".

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