Causality, Method, and Modality

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

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2. Ma Vie En Bref

   • Jules Vuillemin

   Pages 1-4

3. Indeterminism or Instability, Does it Matter?

   • Patrick Suppes

   Pages 5-22

4. Covariance and the Non-Preference of Coordinate Systems

   • Erhard Scheibe

   Pages 23-40

5. Kant’s “Platonic” Argument in Behalf of the a Priori Character of the Representation of Space

   • Pierre Laberge

   Pages 41-51

6. The Sense of the a Priori Method in Leibniz’s Dynamics

   • François Duchesneau

   Pages 53-82

7. Méthode Axiomatique et Idée de Système Dans L’oeuvre de Jules Vuillemin

   • Gilles Gaston Granger

   Pages 83-97

8. Algebra, Constructibility, and the Indeterminate

   • Gordon G. Brittan Jr.

   Pages 99-123

9. On Whether an Answer to a Why-Question is an Explanation if and Only if it Yields Scientific Understanding

   • Karel Lambert

   Pages 125-142

10. Some Revisionary Proposals About Belief and Believing

    • Ruth Barcan Marcus

    Pages 143-173

11. Quantification, Modality, and Semantic Ascent

    • Brian Skyrms

    Pages 175-183

12. Temporal Necessity, Time and Ability: a philosophical commentary on Diodorus Cronus’ Master Argument as given in the interpretation of Jules Vuillemin

    • David Wiggins

    Pages 185-206

13. Replies

    • Jules Vuillemin

    Pages 207-224

14. Back Matter

    Pages 225-241

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Deservedly so, Jules Vuillemin is widely respected and greatly admired. It is not simply that he has produced a large body of outstanding work, in many different areas of philosophy. Or that he combines to an unusual degree rigorous standards with a very wide perspective. Or even that in his path-breaking accounts of algebra, of !)escartes, of Kant and of Russell, he showed in new and profound ways how the histories of science and philosophy could be used to illuminate each other. It is also that he has pursued the application of formal techniques and the defense of liberal institutions with a rare singlemindedness and courage. In a time and place where the former were generally ignored and the latter often attacked, he carried on, at some personal cost, embodying a traditional and ideal conception of the philosophical life, bridging national differences. Those who know him also treasure his friendship. Always curious, he delights in new facts and new experiences, and continually heightens the perception of those around him. Almost yearly, at the College de France he introduced brand new courses always with fresh and fruitful inSights. Exceptionally solicitous, he follows the lives of the families around him in great detail. The devotion of his students is legend. His personal energy is also legend. Many of us have followed him bounding up the stairs two at a time or through the gardens of the Luxembourg, his wit and irony apace.

• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
• Immanuel Kant
• Interpretation
• Plato
• determinism
• dynamics
• interpret
• semantic
• time

• Montana State University, USA

  Gordon G. Brittan

Policies and ethics