Ideas of James Woodward, by Theme
[American, b.1946, Professor Humanities at California Institute of Technology.]
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14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / g. Causal explanations
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An explanation is a causal graph
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Full Idea:
On Woodward's manipulationist view, an explanation would take the form of a causal graph.
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From:
report of James Woodward (Making Things Happen [2003]) by Michael Strevens - No Understanding without Explanation 1
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A reaction:
The idea is that causation is all to do with how nature responds when you try to manipulate it. I'm certainly in favour of tying explanation closely to causation.
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