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Single Idea 17022

[filed under theme 14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / g. Causal explanations ]

Full Idea

No more causes of natural things should be admitted than are both true and sufficient to explain the phenomena. …For nature does nothing in vain, …and nature is simple and does not indulge in the luxury of superfluous causes.

Gist of Idea

We should admit only enough causes to explain a phenomenon, and no more

Source

Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica [1687], Bk 3 Rule 1)

Book Ref

Newton,Isaac: 'Philosophical Writings' [CUP 2004], p.87

A Reaction

This emphasises that Ockham's Razor is a rule for physical explanation, and not just one for abstract theories. This is something like Van Fraassen's 'empirical adequacy'.

The 32 ideas with the same theme [explanation as showing the causes of events]:

20892 Democritus was devoted to discovering causal explanations [Democritus, by Eusebius]
15859 To investigate the causes of things, study what is best for them [Plato]
22522 To grasp something, trace it back to its natural origins [Aristotle]
1669 The foundation or source is stronger than the thing it causes [Aristotle]
13165 Geometrical proofs do not show causes, as when we prove a triangle contains two right angles [Proclus]
17238 Science aims to show causes and generation of things [Hobbes]
17022 We should admit only enough causes to explain a phenomenon, and no more [Newton]
17021 Natural effects of the same kind should be assumed to have the same causes [Newton]
19398 Minds are best explained by their ends, and bodies by efficient causes [Leibniz]
16805 Causal inference is by spotting either Agreements or Differences [Mill, by Lipton]
17062 If scientific explanation is causal, that rules out mathematical explanation [Smart]
13052 Hempel rejects causation as part of explanation [Hempel, by Salmon]
13061 Flagpoles explain shadows, and not vice versa, because of temporal ordering [Salmon]
4809 Lewis endorses the thesis that all explanation of singular events is causal explanation [Lewis, by Psillos]
14321 To explain an event is to provide some information about its causal history [Lewis]
9658 An explanation tells us how an event was caused [Lewis]
16280 Often explanaton seeks fundamental laws, rather than causal histories [Lewis]
17094 The causal theory of explanation neglects determinations which are not causal [Ruben]
16813 To explain is to give either the causal history, or the causal mechanism [Lipton]
16815 Mathematical and philosophical explanations are not causal [Lipton]
16846 A cause may not be an explanation [Lipton]
16849 Explanations may be easier to find than causes [Lipton]
16848 Causal inferences are clearest when we can manipulate things [Lipton]
8406 Not all explanations are causal, but if a thing can be explained at all, it can be explained causally [Sanford]
4395 There are non-causal explanations, most typically mathematical explanations [Psillos]
4806 An explanation can just be a 'causal story', without laws, as when I knock over some ink [Psillos]
14367 An explanation is a causal graph [Woodward,J, by Strevens]
13929 Natural explanations give the causal interconnections [Haslanger]
20058 Not all explanation is causal. We don't explain a painting's beauty, or the irrationality of root-2, that way [Stout,R]
15144 Explanation of causal phenomena concerns essential kinds - but also lack of them [Chakravartty]
15117 Greek uses the same word for 'cause' and 'explanation' [Koslicki]
17299 There are plenty of examples of non-causal explanation [Audi,P]