Causation and explanation / Stathis Psillos.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Psillos, Stathis, 1965- author.

Series:

Central problems of philosophy.

Central problems of philosophy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Causation.

Explanation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 324 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Causation & Explanation

Place of Publication:

Durham : Acumen Publishing, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What is the nature of causation? How is causation linked with explanation? Can there be an adequate theory of explanation? These questions and many others are addressed in this unified and rigorous examination of the philosophical problems surrounding causation, laws and explanation. Part 1 of the book explores Hume's views on causation, theories of singular causation, and counterfactual and mechanistic approaches. Part 2 considers the regularity view of laws and laws as relations among universals, as well as recent alternative approaches to laws. Part 3 examines the issues arising from deductive-nomological explanation, statistical explanation, the explanation of laws and the metaphysics of explanation. Accessible to readers of all levels, the book provides an excellent introduction to one of the most enduring problems of philosophy.

Contents:

Cover; Half Title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Preface; Abbreviations; Introduction; I Causation; 1 Hume on causation; 2 Regularities and singular causation; 3 Causation and counterfactuals; 4 Causation and mechanism; II Laws of nature; 5 The regularity view of laws; 6 Laws as relations among universals; 7 Alternative approaches to laws; III Explanation; 8 Deductive-nomological explanation; 9 Statistical explanation; 10 Explanation of laws; 11 The metaphysics of explanation; Notes; References; Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on metadata supplied by the publisher and other sources.

ISBN:

1-317-48976-4

1-317-48977-2

1-315-71071-4

1-282-92132-0

9786612921322

1-84465-331-5

9781315710716

OCLC:

898771116