Causal Explanations: Are They Possible in Physics?

Andrés Rivadulla

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Causal Explanations: Are They Possible in Physics?

In Mario Augusto Bunge, Michael R. Matthews, Guillermo M. Denegri, Eduardo L. Ortiz, Heinz W. Droste, Alberto Cordero, Pierre Deleporte, María Manzano, Manuel Crescencio Moreno, Dominique Raynaud, Íñigo Ongay de Felipe, Nicholas Rescher, Richard T. W. Arthur, Rögnvaldur D. Ingthorsson, Evandro Agazzi, Ingvar Johansson, Joseph Agassi, Nimrod Bar-Am, Alberto Cupani, Gustavo E. Romero, Andrés Rivadulla, Art Hobson, Olival Freire Junior, Peter Slezak, Ignacio Morgado-Bernal, Marta Crivos, Leonardo Ivarola, Andreas Pickel, Russell Blackford, Michael Kary, A. Z. Obiedat, Carolina I. García Curilaf, Rafael González del Solar, Luis Marone, Javier Lopez de Casenave, Francisco Yannarella, Mauro A. E. Chaparro, José Geiser Villavicencio- Pulido, Martín Orensanz, Jean-Pierre Marquis, Reinhard Kahle, Ibrahim A. Halloun, José María Gil, Omar Ahmad, Byron Kaldis, Marc Silberstein, Carolina I. García Curilaf, Rafael González del Solar, Javier Lopez de Casenave, Íñigo Ongay de Felipe & Villavicencio-Pulid (eds.), Mario Bunge: A Centenary Festschrift. Springer Verlag. pp. 303-328 (2019)

@incollection{Rivadulla2019-RIVCEA-3,
	author = {Andr\'{e}s Rivadulla},
	booktitle = {Mario Bunge: A Centenary Festschrift},
	editor = {Mario Augusto Bunge and Michael R. Matthews and Guillermo M. Denegri and Eduardo L. Ortiz and Heinz W. Droste and Alberto Cordero and Pierre Deleporte and Mar\'{i}a Manzano and Manuel Crescencio Moreno and Dominique Raynaud and \'{I}~{n}igo Ongay de Felipe and Nicholas Rescher and Richard T. W. Arthur and R\"{o}gnvaldur D. Ingthorsson and Evandro Agazzi and Ingvar Johansson and Joseph Agassi and Nimrod Bar{-}Am and Alberto Cupani and Gustavo E. Romero and Andr\'{e}s Rivadulla and Art Hobson and Olival Freire Junior and Peter Slezak and Ignacio Morgado{-}Bernal and Marta Crivos and Leonardo Ivarola and Andreas Pickel and Russell Blackford and Michael Kary and A. Z. Obiedat and Carolina I. Garc\'{i}a Curilaf and Rafael Gonz\'{a}lez del Solar and Luis Marone and Javier Lopez de Casenave and Francisco Yannarella and Mauro A. E. Chaparro and Jos\'e Geiser Villavicencio{-} Pulido and Mart\'{i}n Orensanz and Jean{-}Pierre Marquis and Reinhard Kahle and Ibrahim A. Halloun and Jos\'e Mar\'{i}a Gil and Omar Ahmad and Byron Kaldis and Marc Silberstein and Carolina I. Garc\'{i}a Curilaf and Rafael Gonz\'{a}lez del Solar and Javier Lopez de Casenave and \'{I}~{n}igo Ongay de Felipe and Villavicencio{-}Pulid},
	pages = {303--328},
	publisher = {Springer Verlag},
	title = {Causal Explanations: Are They Possible in Physics?},
	year = {2019}
}

Rivadulla, Andrés (2019). Causal Explanations: Are They Possible in Physics? In Mario Augusto Bunge, Michael R. Matthews, Guillermo M. Denegri, Eduardo L. Ortiz, Heinz W. Droste, Alberto Cordero, Pierre Deleporte, María Manzano, Manuel Crescencio Moreno, Dominique Raynaud, Íñigo Ongay de Felipe, Nicholas Rescher, Richard T. W. Arthur, Rögnvaldur D. Ingthorsson, Evandro Agazzi, Ingvar Johansson, Joseph Agassi, Nimrod Bar-Am, Alberto Cupani, Gustavo E. Romero, Andrés Rivadulla, Art Hobson, Olival Freire Junior, Peter Slezak, Ignacio Morgado-Bernal, Marta Crivos, Leonardo Ivarola, Andreas Pickel, Russell Blackford, Michael Kary, A. Z. Obiedat, Carolina I. García Curilaf, Rafael González del Solar, Luis Marone, Javier Lopez de Casenave, Francisco Yannarella, Mauro A. E. Chaparro, José Geiser Villavicencio- Pulido, Martín Orensanz, Jean-Pierre Marquis, Reinhard Kahle, Ibrahim A. Halloun, José María Gil, Omar Ahmad, Byron Kaldis, Marc Silberstein, Carolina I. García Curilaf, Rafael González del Solar, Javier Lopez de Casenave, Íñigo Ongay de Felipe & Villavicencio-Pulid (eds.), Mario Bunge: A Centenary Festschrift. Springer Verlag. pp. 303-328.

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Abstract

The existence of causal explanations in science has been an issue of interest in Western philosophy from its very beginnings. That is the reason this work, following an idea of Mario Bunge, makes a historical review of this matter. The modern treatment of this subject takes place since the postulation by Popper and Hempel of the D-N model of scientific explanation, whose viability is scrutinized here from different points of view in the current philosophy of science. The main object of this paper is to present two arguments against the possibility of causal explanations in theoretical physics. The first one concerns the existence, in certain cases, of inter-theoretical incompatibilities, and the second refers to the need to resort, in other cases, to concatenations of laws of different theories and disciplines. The final conclusion will be the defence of a form of theoretical explanation, which follows the Popper-Hempel model, but devoid of any ontological and metaphysical connotations.

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10.1007/978-3-030-16673-1_18

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