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Single Idea 10372
[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 1. Causation
]
Full Idea
It is not clear whether causation is transitive. For example, if a boulder roll's towards a hiker's head, causing the hiker to duck, which causes the hiker to survive, it does not seem that the rolling boulder causes the survival of the hiker.
Gist of Idea
Causation may not be transitive; the last event may follow from the first, but not be caused by it
Source
Jonathan Schaffer (The Metaphysics of Causation [2007], 1.2)
Book Ref
'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.9
A Reaction
Maybe survival is not an event or an effect. How many times have I survived in my life? We could, though, say that the hiker strained a muscle as he or she ducked. But then it is unclear whether the boulder caused the muscle-strain.
The
32 ideas
with the same theme
[general comments on the nature of causation]:
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367
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Anaxagoras says mind produces order and causes everything
[Anaxagoras, by Plato]
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327
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There are two types of cause, the necessary and the divine
[Plato]
|
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17252
|
Acting on a body is either creating or destroying a property in it
[Hobbes]
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23012
|
Newtonian causation is changes of motion resulting from collisions
[Newton, by Baron/Miller]
|
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4772
|
If a singular effect is studied, its cause can only be inferred from the types of events involved
[Hume]
|
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2245
|
A priori it looks as if a cause could have absolutely any effect
[Hume]
|
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23632
|
Similar effects come from similar causes, and causes are only what are sufficient for the effects
[Reid]
|
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15614
|
Old metaphysics tried to grasp eternal truths through causal events, which is impossible
[Hegel]
|
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15247
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Whitehead held that perception was a necessary feature of all causation
[Whitehead, by Harré/Madden]
|
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22955
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Einstein took causation to be the bedrock of physics
[Einstein, by Coveney/Highfield]
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8436
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Either cause and effect are subsumed under a conditional because of properties, or it is counterfactual
[Bennett]
|
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8441
|
Delaying a fire doesn't cause it, but hastening it might
[Bennett]
|
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10371
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Distinguish causation, which is in the world, from explanations, which depend on descriptions
[Davidson, by Schaffer,J]
|
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8430
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Causal statements are used to explain, to predict, to control, to attribute responsibility, and in theories
[Kim]
|
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15562
|
Causation is a general relation derived from instances of causal dependence
[Lewis]
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8324
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The problem is to explain how causal laws and relations connect, and how they link to the world
[Sosa/Tooley]
|
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8404
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Explain single events by general rules, or vice versa, or probability explains both, or they are unconnected
[Field,H]
|
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3890
|
'Cause' used to just mean any valid explanation
[Scruton]
|
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22927
|
The logical properties of causation are asymmetry, transitivity and irreflexivity
[Le Poidevin]
|
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19068
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Causation interests us because we want to explain change
[Mumford]
|
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4399
|
Causes clearly make a difference, are recipes for events, explain effects, and are evidence
[Psillos]
|
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4400
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Theories of causation are based either on regularity, or on intrinsic relations of properties
[Psillos]
|
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4403
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We can't base our account of causation on explanation, because it is the wrong way round
[Psillos]
|
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17307
|
Nowadays causation is usually understood in terms of equations and variable ranges
[Schaffer,J]
|
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10359
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In causation there are three problems of relata, and three metaphysical problems
[Schaffer,J]
|
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10372
|
Causation may not be transitive; the last event may follow from the first, but not be caused by it
[Schaffer,J]
|
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10374
|
There are at least ten theories about causal connections
[Schaffer,J]
|
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23782
|
Causation is the exercise of powers
[Williams,NE]
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23785
|
Causation needs to explain stasis, as well as change
[Williams,NE]
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14566
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Causation by absence is not real causation, but part of our explanatory practices
[Mumford/Anjum]
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14577
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Causation may not be transitive. Does a fire cause itself to be extinguished by the sprinklers?
[Mumford/Anjum]
|
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23011
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Modern accounts of causation involve either processes or counterfactuals
[Baron/Miller]
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