Philosophia 40 (3):523-538 (2012)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
There is a widespread belief that the so-called process theories of causation developed by Wesley Salmon and Phil Dowe have given us an original account of what causation really is. In this paper, I show that this is a misconception. The notion of “causal process” does not offer us a new ontological account of causation. I make this argument by explicating the implicit ontological commitments in Salmon and Dowe’s theories. From this, it is clear that Salmon’s Mark Transmission Theory collapses to a counterfactual theory of causation, while the Conserved Quantity Theory collapses to David Fair’s phsyicalist reduction of causation
|
Keywords | Dowe Salmon Process theories of causation Ontological commitments |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | |
DOI | 10.1007/s11406-011-9329-2 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Making Things Happen: A Theory of Causal Explanation.James Woodward - 2003 - Oxford University Press.
Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World.Wesley C. Salmon - 1984 - Princeton University Press.
Explanatory Unification and the Causal Structure of the World.Philip Kitcher - 1989 - In Philip Kitcher & Wesley Salmon (eds.), Scientific Explanation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 410-505.
View all 22 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
The Dynamical Essence of Powers.Andrea Roselli & Christopher Austin - 2021 - Synthese 199 (5-6):14951-14973.
Similar books and articles
Causality and Explanation: A Reply to Two Critiques.Wesley C. Salmon - 1997 - Philosophy of Science 64 (3):461-477.
Causal Processes and Causal Interactions.Douglas Ehring - 1986 - PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1986:24 - 32.
How Could There Be True Causal Claims Without There Being Special Causal Facts in the World?Mehmet Elgin - 2010 - Philosophia 38 (4):755-771.
Causality and Conserved Quantities: A Reply to Salmon.Phil Dowe - 1995 - Philosophy of Science 62 (2):321-333.
An Empiricist Defence of the Causal Account of Explanation.Phil Dowe - 1992 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 6 (2):123 – 128.
What's Right and What's Wrong with Transference Theories.Phil Dowe - 1995 - Erkenntnis 42 (3):363 - 374.
The Conserved Quantity Theory of Causation and Chance Raising.Phil Dowe - 1999 - Philosophy of Science 66 (3):501.
Local Theories of Causation and the a Posteriori Identification of the Causal Relation.Alexander Rueger - 1998 - Erkenntnis 48 (1):25-38.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2011-09-09
Total views
112 ( #104,567 of 2,507,560 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
3 ( #209,626 of 2,507,560 )
2011-09-09
Total views
112 ( #104,567 of 2,507,560 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
3 ( #209,626 of 2,507,560 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads