Causation is a central topic in many areas of philosophy. In metaphysics, philosophers want to know what causation is, and how it is related to laws of nature, probability, action, and freedom of the will. In epistemology, philosophers investigate how causal claims can be inferred from statistical data, and how causation is related to perception, knowledge and explanation. In the philosophy of mind, philosophers want to know whether and how the mind can be said to have causal efficacy, and in ethics, whether there is a moral distinction between acts and omissions and whether the moral value of an act can be judged according to its consequences. And causation is a contested concept in other fields of enquiry, such as biology, physics, and the law. This book provides an in-depth and comprehensive overview of these and other topics, as well as the history of the causation debate from the ancient Greeks to the logical empiricists. The chapters provide surveys of contemporary debates, while often also advancing novel and controversial claims; and each includes a comprehensive bibliography and suggestions for further reading. The book is thus the most comprehensive source of information about causation currently available, and will be invaluable for upper-level undergraduates through to professional philosophers.
Author(s): Helen Beebee, Christopher Hitchcock, Peter Menzies (Editors)
Series: Oxford Handbooks
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2009
Language: English
Commentary: searchable with Adobe Reader (not with some other pdf readers)
Pages: 747
List of Contributors......Page 13
H EIEN B EEBEE, C HRISTOPHER H ITCHCOCK, AND P ETER M ENZIES......Page 19
S ARAH B ROADIE......Page 36
J OHN M ARENBON......Page 51
K ENNETH C LATTERBAUGH......Page 64
D ON G ARRETT......Page 80
E RIC W ATKINS......Page 96
M ICHAEL S TOLTZNER......Page 110
S TATHIS P SILLOS......Page 129
L. A. P AUL......Page 153
J ON W ILLIAMSON......Page 175
P HIL D OWE......Page 198
J AMES F. W OODWARD......Page 217
S TEPHEN M UMFORD......Page 242
J OHN W. C ARROLL......Page 254
C HRISTOPHER H ITCHCOCK......Page 271
S TUART G LENNAN......Page 285
P ETER G ODFREY -S MITH......Page 295
P ETER M ENZIES......Page 306
M ICHAEL T OOLEY......Page 329
D OUGLAS E HRING......Page 346
H UW P RICE and B RAD W ESLAKE......Page 370
D AVID D ANKS......Page 395
H ELEN B EEBEE......Page 416
C LARK G LYMOUR......Page 440
C EI M ASLEN , T ERRY H ORGAN , and H ELEN D ALY......Page 460
A LFRED R. M ELE......Page 486
C AROLINA S ARTORIO......Page 503
R AM N ETA......Page 518
F RANK J ACKSON......Page 531
P ETER L IPTON......Page 541
P AUL H UMPHREYS......Page 552
M ARC L ANGE......Page 566
L AWRENCE S KLAR......Page 577
R ICHARD H EALEY......Page 587
C ARL H OEFER......Page 600
S AMIR O KASHA......Page 617
H AROLD K INCAID......Page 633
J ANE S TAPLETON......Page 649
PART I. THE HISTORY OF CAUSATION......Page 35
PART II. STANDARD APPROACHES TO CAUSATION......Page 128
PART III. ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO CAUSATION......Page 241
PART IV. THE METAPHYSICS OF CAUSATION......Page 305
PART V. THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF CAUSATION......Page 394
PART VI. CAUSATION IN PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES......Page 459
PART VII. CAUSATION IN OTHER DISCIPLINES......Page 565
Index......Page 672
