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Full Idea
The exercise of causal power is not a force or power that has some existence of its own but refers to forceful objects at work.
Gist of Idea
Active causal power is just objects at work, not something existing in itself
Source
Harré,R./Madden,E.H. (Causal Powers [1975], 3.II)
Book Ref
Harré,R/Madden,E.H.: 'Causal Powers: A Theory of Natural Necessity' [Blackwell 1975], p.57
A Reaction
This seems to be a behaviourist account of causation, which should make us a bit suspicious. Powers differ from one another. Does all causation have something universally in common? 'Energy' is a stab at the missing ingredient.
4777 | The word 'cause' is an abstraction from a group of causal terms in a language (scrape, push..) [Anscombe] |
15246 | Active causal power is just objects at work, not something existing in itself [Harré/Madden] |
10380 | Causation is primitive; it is too intractable and central to be reduced; all explanations require it [Schaffer,J] |
10385 | If causation is just observables, or part of common sense, or vacuous, it can't be primitive [Schaffer,J] |
14587 | We take causation to be primitive, as it is hard to see how it could be further reduced [Mumford/Anjum] |