Single Idea 10380

[catalogued under 26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 6. Causation as primitive]

Full Idea

Primitivism arises from our failure to reduce causation, but also from causation being too central to reduce. The probability and process accounts are said to be inevitably circular, as they cannot be understood without reference to causation.

Gist of Idea

Causation is primitive; it is too intractable and central to be reduced; all explanations require it

Source

Jonathan Schaffer (The Metaphysics of Causation [2007], 2.1.2)

Book Reference

'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.22


A Reaction

This is very tempting. The primitive view, though, must deal with the direction problem, which may suggest that time is even more primitive. Can we have a hierarchy of primitiveness? To be alive is to be causal.