Causality and Modern Science
Edition: 4th ed.
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2017
Place of publication: Milton
Language: eng
Number of pages: 332
ISBN-13: 9781351529747
Subjects: Causation; Determinism (Philosophy); Science; Philosophy; Déterminisme (Philosophie); Determinism
Description: "The causal problem has become topical once again. While we are no longer causalists or believers in the universal truth of the causal principle we continue to think of causes and effects, as well as of causal and noncausal relations among them. Instead of becoming indeterminists we have enlarged determinism to include noncausal categories. And we are still in the process of characterizing our basic concepts and principles concerning causes and effects with the help of exact tools. This is because we want to explain, not just describe, the ways of things. The causal principle is not the only means of understanding the world but it is one of them. The demand for a fourth edition of this distinguished book on the subject of causality is clear evidence that this principle continues to be an important and popular area of philosophic enquiry. Non-technical and clearly written, this book focuses on the ontological problem of causality, with specific emphasis on the place of the causal principle in modern science. Mario Bunge first defines the terminology employed and describes various formulations of the causal principle. He then examines the two primary critiques of causality, the empiricist and the romantic, as a prelude to the detailed explanation of the actual assertions of causal determinism. Bunge analyzes the function of the causal principle in science, touching on such subjects as scientific law, scientific explanation, and scientific prediction. In so doing, he offers an education to layman and specialist alike on the history of a concept and its opponents. Professor William A. Wallace, author of Causality and Scientific Explanation said of an earlier edition of this work: "I regard it as a truly seminal work in this field.""--Provided by publisher.
Notes: 3.4.2. Noncausal Laws Formulated with the Help of Differential Equations.
Table of contents: title: Cover Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; Preface to the Transaction Edition; Preface to the Third Edition; Preface to the Second Edition; Preface to the First Edition; Acknowledgments; PART I A CLARIFICATION OF MEANING; 1. CAUSATION AND DETERMINATION, CAUSALISM AND DETERMINISM; 1.1. Causation, Causal Principle, and Causal Determinism; 1.1.1. The Threefold Meaning of the Word 'Causality'; 1.1.2. Causation: A Purely Epistemological Category of Relation, or an Ontological Category?; 1.2. Toward a General Concept of Determination.; title: 1.2.1. Two Meanings of 'Determination': Property, and Constant Connection1.2.2. Constant Unique Connections Need Not Be Causal; 1.2.3. A Third Meaning of 'Determination': Way of Becoming; 1.2.4. Chance: Alien to Determinism?; 1.2.5. The Quantum Theory: A Restriction on Determinism or on Causality?; 1.3. The Spectrum of Categories of Determination; 1.4. Connections Among Different Types of Determination; 1.5. The Essential Components of All Types of Determinacy: Productivity and Lawfulness; 1.5.1. The Principle of Lawfulness or Orderliness; 1.5.2. The Genetic Principle.; title: 1.5.3. The Principle of Determinacy1.6. Causation and Determination: Main Views; 1.7. Conclusions; 2. FORMULATIONS OF THE CAUSAL PRINCIPLE; 2.1. Definitions of Cause; 2.1.1. The Aristotelian Teaching of Causes; 2.1.2. Galileo's Definition of Cause; 2.2. General Features of any Formulation of the Causal Principle; 2.3. The Constant-Conjunction Formula of Causation; 2.4. Criticism of the Constant-Conjunction Formula of Causation; 2.4.1. The Uniqueness of the Causal Bond: Neglected in the Previous Formula; 2.4.2. The Efficacy of Causation: Denied by the Humean Doctrine of Causation.; title: 2.4.3. Inadequacy of the Constant-Conjunction Formula2.5. Causation as Necessary (Constant and Unique) Production; 2.6. Supposed Further Refinements of the Necessary-Production Formula of Causation; 2.7. Retrospect and Conclusion; PART II WHAT CAUSAL DETERMINISM DOES NOT ASSERT; 3. AN EXAMINATION OF THE EMPIRICIST CRITIQUE OF CAUSALITY; 3.1. Does Causality Involve Contiguity?; 3.1.1. Contiguity: An Essential Component of Causation According to Humeans; 3.1.2. Contiguity: A Hypothesis Inconsistent with Empiricism; 3.1.3. Explicit Definitions of Causation Do Not Involve Contiguity.; title: 3.2. Does Causality Involve Antecedence?3.2.1. Causality Is Consistent with Instantaneous Links; 3.2.2. The Principle of Retarded Action in Special Relativity; 3.3. Is Causation Identical with Invariable Succession in Time?; 3.3.1. The Interpretation of Causal Process as Succession of States; 3.3.2. The Interpretation of Causation as Predictive Ability; 3.3.3. Descriptions of Change as Sequence of States Need Not Be Causal; 3.4. Is Causation Mirrored by Differential Equations?; 3.4.1. Differential Equations as Mirror Images of Uniform Sequences: A Confusion of Dimensions of Language.