State of affairs
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State of affairs has some technical usages in philosophy, as well as being a phrase in everyday speech in English. They may be possible or (in some sense) impossible. They are things for which people may wish, or guard against.
A state of affairs is like a fact, except that facts must obtain whereas states of affairs need not. For example, there is no fact corresponding to the sentence 'Flying horses exist', but there is a state of affairs.
