possibilitypermission

Possibilitypermission is a conceptual term used in philosophy, law, and computer science to analyze how permissions relate to alternative possibilities available to agents. The term blends notions of possibility (modal space of actions or states that could occur) with permission (authorization to perform certain actions). In this view, permissions are not fixed outcomes but contingent on which possibilities are considered or realized, especially under uncertainty. The concept is often discussed within deontic logic and modal logic as a way to model how agents are allowed to act across different possible futures, rather than only in the actual world.

In practical contexts, possibilitypermission can inform policy design and access control by clarifying when an action is permissible given different hypothetical states, such as varying user attributes, environmental conditions, or system states. It can help reason about permissibility under uncertainty, risk, or dynamic environments, and is sometimes invoked in discussions about AI governance and accountability for decisions made under multiple possible outcomes.

Critics argue that the term overlaps with established notions of permission, capability, and conditional authorization, and that it risks ambiguity without precise formal definitions. Proponents, however, see value in explicitly separating the modal space of possibilities from the authorized actions to better handle uncertainty and robustness.

See also: deontic logic, permission, possibility, modal logic, counterfactuals, access control, policy.