different between counterfactual vs factual

English

Etymology

counter- +? factual

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /?ka?nt??fækt?u?l/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ka?n.t?(?)?fæk.t?u.?l/

Adjective

counterfactual

1. Contrary to the facts; untrue.
2. Of or in comparison to a hypothetical state of the world.

Translations

Noun

counterfactual (plural counterfactuals)

1. A claim, hypothesis, or other belief that is contrary to the facts.
2. A hypothetical state of the world, used to assess the impact of an action.
   • 2015, Lee Drutman, "Here's the real reason we don't have gun reform", Vox

     The implicit counterfactual — that these members would support gun control if not for the $1,000 they received from the NRA — seems unlikely to me.

3. (linguistics, philosophy) A conditional statement in which the conditional clause is false, as "If I had arrived on time . . .".
   • 1952, B. J. Diggs, "VI.—Counterfactual Conditionals," Mind, vol. 61, no. 244, page 513:

     In recent years there has been increasing discussion of the "problem of counterfactuals". One way of formulating this problem is as follows: "What is meant when one asserts a conditional statement, the antecedent of which is contrary to fact?"

See also

• alternative fact

References

English

Etymology

fact +? -al, modified by analogy with actual.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?fæk(t)?u?l/, /?fæk(t)??l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?fak(t)???l/, /?fak(t)??l/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /?f?k(t)???l/, /?f?k(t)??l/

Adjective

factual (comparative more factual, superlative most factual)

1. Pertaining to or consisting of objective claims.
   • 2012, D.C. Kline, Dominion and Wealth: A Critical Analysis of Karl Marx’ Theory of Commercial Law, Springer Science & Business Media (?ISBN), page 34:

     If, as Marx claimed, these factual views were held by the ideologists of the nineteenth century and if these factual claims could be proven false, then Marx could claim to have refuted certain tenets of capitalist political philosophy on a purely  […]

   • 2014, Derek Matravers, Fiction and Narrative, OUP Oxford (?ISBN):

     Thus, the approach has more flexibility than Lamarque and Olsen's approach; in particular, it is open to the possibility that false factual claims do affect our understanding of, and our evaluation of, fictional narratives.

2. True, accurate, corresponding to reality.
   • 2007, Robin Parrish, Fearless, Bethany House Pub (?ISBN)

     He knew Guardian's real name. Did he dare play that card? "Yes ma'am, that's factual information. All of it."

Derived terms

Related terms

• fact
• counterfactual
• de facto

Translations

Further reading

• factual in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• factual in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• caul fat

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• fatual

Adjective

factual m or f (plural factuais, comparable)

1. factual (consisting of facts)

Spanish

Adjective

factual (plural factuales)

1. factual

   Synonym: fáctico