“The Oracle’s prediction only has to apply to the world where the prediction is delivered”—My point was that predictions that are delivered in the factual don’t apply to counterfactuals, but the way you’ve framed it is better as it handles a more general set of cases. It seems like we’re on the same page.
It’s not actually more general, it’s instead about a somewhat different point. The more general statement could use some sort of a notion of relative actuality, to point at the possibly counterfactual world determined by the decision made in the world where the prediction was delivered, which is distinct from the even more counterfactual worlds where the prediction was delivered but the decision was different from what it would relative-actually be had the prediction been delivered, and from the worlds where the prediction was not delivered at all.
If the prediction is not actually delivered, then it only applies to that intermediately-counterfactual world and not to the more counterfactual alternatives where the prediction was still delivered or to the less counterfactual situation where the prediction is not delivered. Saying that the prediction applies to the world where it’s delivered is liable to be interpreted as including the more-counterfactual worlds, but it doesn’t have to apply there, it only applies to the relatively-actual world. So your original framing has a necessary part of saying this carefully that my framing didn’t include, replacing it with my framing discards this correct detail. The Oracle’s prediction only has to apply to the “relatively-actual” world where the prediction is delivered.
“The Oracle’s prediction only has to apply to the world where the prediction is delivered”—My point was that predictions that are delivered in the factual don’t apply to counterfactuals, but the way you’ve framed it is better as it handles a more general set of cases. It seems like we’re on the same page.
It’s not actually more general, it’s instead about a somewhat different point. The more general statement could use some sort of a notion of relative actuality, to point at the possibly counterfactual world determined by the decision made in the world where the prediction was delivered, which is distinct from the even more counterfactual worlds where the prediction was delivered but the decision was different from what it would relative-actually be had the prediction been delivered, and from the worlds where the prediction was not delivered at all.
If the prediction is not actually delivered, then it only applies to that intermediately-counterfactual world and not to the more counterfactual alternatives where the prediction was still delivered or to the less counterfactual situation where the prediction is not delivered. Saying that the prediction applies to the world where it’s delivered is liable to be interpreted as including the more-counterfactual worlds, but it doesn’t have to apply there, it only applies to the relatively-actual world. So your original framing has a necessary part of saying this carefully that my framing didn’t include, replacing it with my framing discards this correct detail. The Oracle’s prediction only has to apply to the “relatively-actual” world where the prediction is delivered.