Single Idea 8442

[catalogued under 26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / b. Nomological causation]

Full Idea

If I fasten a board onto a tree stump, causing a table to come into existence, ...what law of nature or, even, what quasi-law or law-like principle could possibly play in such a case of generation the role required by nomological accounts?

Gist of Idea

What law would explain causation in the case of causing a table to come into existence?

Source

Ernest Sosa (Varieties of Causation [1980], 1)

Book Reference

'Causation', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Tooley,M. [OUP 1993], p.234


A Reaction

A very nice question. The nomological account is at its strongest when rocks fall off walls or magnets attract, but all sorts of other caused events seem too messy or complex or original to fit the story.