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Full Idea
Dowe commends the Conserved Quantity theory because it avoids any mention of counterfactuals.
Gist of Idea
Dowe commends the Conserved Quantity theory as it avoids mention of counterfactuals
Source
report of Phil Dowe (Physical Causation [2000]) by Stathis Psillos - Causation and Explanation §4.4
Book Ref
Psillos,Stathis: 'Causation and Explanation' [Acumen 2002], p.125
A Reaction
Clearly the truth of a counterfactual is quite a problem for an empiricist/scientist, but one needs to distinguish between reality and our grasp of it. We commit ourselves to counterfactuals, even if causation is transfer of conserved quantities.