Combining Philosophers

Ideas for H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim, John Hawthorne and Vann McGee

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1 idea

26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 7. Eliminating causation
Maybe scientific causation is just generalisation about the patterns [Hawthorne]
     Full Idea: Perhaps science doesn't need a robust conception of causation, and can get by with thinking of causal laws in a Humean way, as the simplest generalization over the mosaic.
     From: John Hawthorne (Causal Structuralism [2001], 1.5)
     A reaction: The Humean view he is referring to is held by David Lewis. That seems a council of defeat. We observe from a distance, but make no attempt to explain.