Difference Between Logical Possibility and Metaphysical Possibility
The logical possibility and metaphysical possibility are two of the four types of subjective possibility in modal logic. Statements of possibilities use modal moods or words as needed, like by chance, might, perhaps, could, possibly, and the like.
Logical possibility:
Logical possibility is the type most widely discussed because of its extensive explanations. A statement can be logically possible and true if there is no contradiction in it. For example, the statement “Julian is unhealthy” is considered logically possible ‘, as Julian’ and ‘unhealthy’ do not contradict each other. However, the statement “Julian is in good health and sickly” is logically impossible because ‘in good health’ and ‘sickly’ are contradictory to each other.
Metaphysical possibility:
If you compare metaphysical possibility with logical possibility, then metaphysical reality has a narrower scope in relation to explanations and statements. As they are close in meaning, philosophers sometimes interchange them. For example, the proposal “salt is Nacl” is metaphysically possible because the salt is really a chemical compound of Sodium (Na) and chloride (cl).
The difference between logical possibility and metaphysical possibility:
When we say that a statement is logically possible, there should not be any word or words of contradiction in the whole statement; but when we say that a statement is metaphysically possible then the statement is a proposal, which outlines the composition of an object. It is hard enough to understand their differences if not explained through examples. We can use Saul Kripke’s famous statement that “Water is H2O”. This proposal is really in the state of logical possibility for water and H2O is not contradictory but it is also metaphysically impossible because the water is always H2O.
Philosophers have been using these two possibilities for years. They continue to discuss and debate among themselves, which is necessary to use: the logical possibility or the metaphysical possibilities as, there are statements that are logically possible but metaphysically impossible as shown above.