Single Idea 8371

[catalogued under 26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / a. Constant conjunction]

Full Idea

The supposition of recurrence is wholly irrelevant to the meaning of cause: that supposition is relevant only to the meaning of law.

Gist of Idea

Recurrence is only relevant to the meaning of law, not to the meaning of cause

Source

Curt Ducasse (Nature and Observability of Causal Relations [1926], §4)

Book Reference

'Causation', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Tooley,M. [OUP 1993], p.129


A Reaction

This sounds plausible, especially if our notion of laws of nature is built up from a series of caused events. But we could just have an ontology of 'similar events', out of which we build laws, and 'causation' could drop out (á la Russell).