Erkenntnis 48 (1):1-25 (1998)
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Abstract |
The idea that causation can be reduced to transmission of an amount of some conserved quantity between events is spelled out and defended against important objections. Transmission is understood as a symmetrical relation of copresence in two distinct events. The actual asymmetry of causality has its origin in the asymmetrical character of certain irreversible physical processes and then spreads through the causal net. This conception is compatible with the possibility of backwards causation and with a causal theory of time. Genidentity, the persistence of concrete objects, can be given an explanation in causal terms. The transmission theory is shown to escape difficulties faced by two important alternative theories of causation: Salmon's (1984) Mark Transmission Theory and Dowe's (1992a) Conserved Quantities Theory.
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Keywords | Philosophy Philosophy Epistemology Ethics Logic Ontology |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2004 |
DOI | 10.1023/A:1005374229251 |
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Explanation Beyond Causation? New Directions in the Philosophy of Scientific Explanation.Alexander Reutlinger - 2017 - Philosophy Compass 12 (2):e12395.
Causes Need Not Be Physically Connected to Their Effects: The Case for Negative Causation.Jonathan Schaffer - 2004 - In Christopher Read Hitchcock (ed.), Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Science. Blackwell. pp. 197--216.
What is Shannon Information?Olimpia Lombardi, Federico Holik & Leonardo Vanni - 2016 - Synthese 193 (7):1983-2012.
On the Causal Completeness of Physics.Agustín Vicente - 2006 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 20 (2):149 – 171.
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