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Metaphysics of Cause and Effect
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Anscombe's Causality and Determination
G. E. M. Anscombe discusses that cause and effect do not imply necessity or predictability, intertwining causality with human action and freedom.
Nagel's Probability Theory
Ernest Nagel argues that causation can often be understood in terms of probabilities, not deterministic laws, and causal explanations can vary in depth.
Mackie's INUS Conditions
J. L. Mackie coined the term 'INUS' condition (an Insufficient but Non-redundant part of an Unnecessary but Sufficient condition) to capture the complexity of causation in real-world contexts.
Kant's Causal Principle
Immanuel Kant proposed that causality is a category of understanding necessary for making sense of experience, not something we can derive from experience itself.
Bertrand Russell's Causal Skepticism
Russell argued that causation doesn’t reflect the way the world works and is an antiquated concept based on outdated science.
Cartwright's Regularity Theory
Nancy Cartwright advocates for a version of the regularity theory of causation, which asserts that causal relations are not fundamental but derived from recurring patterns.
Leibniz's Principle of Sufficient Reason
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz states that nothing happens without a reason, and this underpins his view on causation.
Spinoza's Monism
Baruch Spinoza posits that there is only one substance, God or Nature, and causation is an internal process within this single substance.
Hume's Skepticism about Causation
David Hume argued that our belief in cause and effect is based on habit and custom, not logical deduction or empirical proof.
Dowe's Process Theory
Phil Dowe's process theory focuses on the physical processes and the conservation laws they obey as the basis for causal relationships.
Aristotle's Four Causes
Aristotle identified four kinds of answers to 'why' questions, which he called 'causes': material, formal, efficient, and final.
Davidson's Anomalous Monism
Donald Davidson's anomalous monism posits that while mental events are causally related to physical events, there are no strict laws governing the mind.
Popper's Propensity Interpretation
Karl Popper introduced the propensity interpretation of probability, suggesting that probabilities have a physical tendency to realize certain outcomes.
Mill's Methods of Causation
John Stuart Mill proposed a set of methods to identify causal relationships empirically, such as the Method of Agreement and the Method of Difference.
Mumford's Dispositional Theory of Causation
Stephen Mumford suggests that causation is a matter of the dispositions of entities to behave in certain ways under certain conditions.
Lewis's Counterfactual Theory of Causation
David Lewis suggests that causation is to be analyzed in terms of counterfactual conditionals, focusing on ‘closest possible worlds’ where events do not occur.
Bhaskar's Critical Realism
Roy Bhaskar's critical realism holds that causation is real and must be understood in relation to the structures and mechanisms that produce causal powers.
Salmon's Causal Mechanisms
Wesley C. Salmon developed a theory that identifies causation with the mechanisms that produce regularities, as opposed to regularities themselves.
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