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4 ideas
15555 | Explaining match lighting in general is like explaining one lighting of a match [Lewis] |
Full Idea: Explaining why struck matches light in general is not so very different from explaining why some particular struck match lit. ...We may generalize modestly, without laying claim to universality. | |
From: David Lewis (Causal Explanation [1986], IV) | |
A reaction: A suggestive remark, since particular causation and general causation seem far apart, but Lewis suggests that the needs of explanation bring them together. Lawlike and unlawlike explanations? |
15551 | Ways of carving causes may be natural, but never 'right' [Lewis] |
Full Idea: There is no one right way - though there may be more or less natural ways - of carving up a causal history. | |
From: David Lewis (Causal Explanation [1986], I) | |
A reaction: This invites a distinction between the 'natural' causes and the 'real' causes. Presumably if any causes were 'real', they would have a better claim to be 'right'. Is an earthquake the 'real' (correct?) cause of a tsunami? |
15552 | We only pick 'the' cause for the purposes of some particular enquiry. [Lewis] |
Full Idea: Disagreement about 'the' cause is only disagreement about which part of the causal history is most salient for the purposes of some particular inquiry. | |
From: David Lewis (Causal Explanation [1986], I) | |
A reaction: I don't believe this. In the majority of cases I see the cause of an event, without having any interest in any particular enquiry. It is just so obvious that there isn't even a disagreement. Maybe there is only one sensible enquiry. |
15553 | Causal dependence is counterfactual dependence between events [Lewis] |
Full Idea: I take causal dependence to be counterfactual dependence, of a suitably back-tracking sort, between distinct events. | |
From: David Lewis (Causal Explanation [1986], I) | |
A reaction: He quotes Hume in support. 'Counterfactual dependence' strikes me as too vague, or merely descriptive, for the job of explanation. 'If...then' is a logical relationship; what is it in nature that justifies the dependency? |