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Causation and Laws of Nature

  • Book
  • © 1999

Overview

Editors:
  1. Howard Sankey

    1. Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne, Australia

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Part of the book series: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (AUST, volume 14)

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Table of contents (23 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
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  2. Laws and Causes

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. Making Sense of Laws of Physics

      • Alan Chalmers
      Pages 3-16

  3. Scientific Essentialism

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-17
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    2. Causal Powers and Laws of Nature

      • Brian Ellis
      Pages 19-34

    3. Comment on Ellis

      • D. M. Armstrong
      Pages 35-38

    4. Response to David Armstrong

      • Brian Ellis
      Pages 39-43

    5. Scientific Ellisianism

      • John Bigelow
      Pages 45-59

    6. Bigelow’s Worries About Scientific Essentialism

      • Brian Ellis
      Pages 61-75

    7. The Naturalness Theory of Laws

      • Martin Leckey
      Pages 77-82

    8. Nomic Necessity and Natural States: Comment on the Leckey—Bigelow Theory of Laws

      • Caroline Lierse
      Pages 83-88

  4. Laws, Quantities and Disposition

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 89-89
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    2. Are the Laws of Nature Deductively Closed?

      • Alan Baker
      Pages 91-109

    3. Laws of Nature as Relations Between Quantities?

      • John Forge
      Pages 111-124

    4. Real Law in Charles Peirce’s “Pragmaticism”

      • Cathy Legg
      Pages 125-142

    5. Finkish Dispositions

      • David Lewis
      Pages 143-155

    6. Comments on David Lewis: ‘Finkish Dispositions’

      • Barry Taylor
      Pages 157-159

    7. Laws and Cosmology

      • J. J. C. Smart
      Pages 161-169

    8. Comment on Smart

      • D. M. Armstrong
      Pages 171-172

  5. Causation and Theories of Causation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 173-173
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Keywords

About this book

Causation and Laws of Nature is a collection of articles which represents current research on the metaphysics of causation and laws of nature, mostly by authors working in or active in the Australasian region. The book provides an overview of current work on the theory of causation, including counterfactual, singularist, nomological and causal process approaches. It also covers work on the nature of laws of nature, with special emphasis on the scientific essentialist theory that laws of nature are, at base, the fundamental dispositions or capacities of natural kinds of things. Because the book represents a good cross-section of authors currently working on these themes in the Australasian region, it conveys something of the interest and excitement of an active philosophical debate between advocates of several different research programmes in the area.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne, Australia

    Howard Sankey

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