Scientific Emergentism and Its Move beyond (Direct) Downward Causation
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Analytical causation is a type of causation that is often overlooked in philosophical textbooks. This type of causation is contrasted with external causation. In modern times, contemporary philosophers have made efforts to show the importance of this category of causation. Nevertheless, there are many ambiguities surrounding the nature of this type of causation that must be removed before it can find its proper place in Islamic philosophy. First of all, the nature of this category of causation must be determined. In order to accomplish this, the terms concept, meaning, instance and individual should be defined. The clarification of these terms shows that philosophy is essentially concerned with meaning. Secondly, it must be shown how one thing can be the instance of numerous concepts and meanings without any contradiction arising. These two premises can help clarify how analytical causation is not philosophically problematic; rather, it is imperative and necessary. Historically speaking, Islamic philosophers never explicitly mentioned analytical causation as a separate type of causation. Nevertheless, in many places, they used the term causation to refer to cases where there is no external existential distinction between a cause and its effect. Muslim philosophers unanimously agree upon the principle that states that there is no mutual concomitance without causation. Based upon this principle, it is possible to demonstrate that there is causation between things that do not possess external existential distinction with one another but that mutually necessitate one another, such as existence and quiddity, two essentially necessary beings (such as the names of God and His essence) and two essentially impossible beings (such as a vicious circle and the priority of something over itself). This in turn shows the possibility of analytical causation. Another important discussion related to the subject of analytical causation is the differences between analytical and external causation. Although these two categories of causation have properties in common, there are also some fundamental distinctions between them. By way of example, in analytical causation, causation is a secondary intelligible. This is why it is a primary intelligible in external causation. What is more, in analytical causation, cause and effect are not instances of contraries. There are other distinctions between analytical and external causation. These and other important aspects of this discussion will be examined in this paper.
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The alleged but unclear distinction between so-called “immanent” and so-called “transeunt” causation is structurally similar to an Aristotelian distinction between two kinds of potentiality (dunamis). It is argued that Aristotle’s distinction is in turn grounded in one between a metaphysically basic notion, rooted in his property theory, and a metaphysically posterior notion proper to the understanding of change in the science of nature. By examining Aristotle’s distinction, we can give a satisfying account of immanent and transeunt causation more generally. Furthermore, once we clarify the distinction in this way, some contemporary appeals to immanent causation turn out to be misguided, while others look promising.
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: Eric Watkins has argued on philosophical, textual, and historical grounds that Kant’s account of causation in the first Critique should not be read as an attempt to refute Hume’s account of causation. In this paper, I challenge the arguments for Watkins’ claim. Specifically, I argue (1) that Kant’s philosophical commitments, even on Watkins’ reading, are not obvious obstacles to refuting Hume, (2) that textual evidence from the Disciple of Pure Reason suggests Kant conceived of his account of causation as such a refutation, and (3) that none of Hume’s early German critics provided responses to this account that would have satisfied Kant. Watkins’ reading of Kant’s account of causation is thus more compatible with traditional views about Kant’s relationship to Hume than Watkins believes.
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Paul Guyer: Knowledge, Reason and Taste: Kant's Response to Hume (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2008) pp. ix–267. £23.95 (hb). ISBN 13: 978-0691-13439-0 Paul Guyer is one of the...
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