The Problem With Aristotle's Logic

Islamic theology and disrepute are rarely far apart, as Al Farabi is concerned. He says that present truths seem to make future events necessary only because the occurrence of those events is implied by the truth of the present propositions predicting them. If I say 2 plus 2 will equal 4 tomorrow, what I say now is necessarily true because what it predicts is necessary. But although there is a necessary connection between the statement and the event, the truth of this statement itself is not necessary. So if it is true, it only implies that the sea battle will take place contingently, not necessarily.