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"This book critically examines the recent discussions of powers and powers-based accounts of causation. The author then develops an original view of powers-based causation that aims to be compatible with the theories and findings of natural science. Recently, there has been a dramatic revival of realist approaches to properties and causation, which focus on the relevance of Aristotelian metaphysics and the notion of powers for a scientifically informed view of causation. In this book, R.D. Ingthorsson argues that one central feature of powers-based accounts of causation is arguably incompatible with what is today recognized as fact in the sciences, notably that all interactions are thoroughly reciprocal. Ingthorsson's powerful particulars view of powers-based causation accommodates for the reciprocity of interactions. It also draws out the consequences of that view for issue of causal necessity and offers a way to understand the constitution and persistence of compound objects as causal phenomena. Furthermore, Ingthorsson argues that compound entities, so understood, are just as much processes as they are substances. A Powerful Particulars View of Causation will be of great interest to scholars and advanced students working in metaphysics, philosophy of science, and neo-Aristotelian philosophy, while also being accessible for a general audience"--

Causation. --- Causality --- Cause and effect --- Effect and cause --- Final cause --- Beginning --- God --- Metaphysics --- Philosophy --- Necessity (Philosophy) --- Teleology

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"This book develops a unified theory of moral progress. The author argues that there are mechanisms in place that consistently drive societies towards moral improvement and that a sophisticated, naturalistically respectable form of teleology can be defended. The book's main aim is to flesh out the process of moral progress in more detail, and to show how, when the right mechanisms and institutions of moral progress are matched together, they create pressure for the desired types of moral gains to manifest. The first part of the book deals with two issues: the conceptual one about what moral progress is, and the broadly empirical one whether it is possible. It shows that cultural evolution successfully explains the origins of modern forms of morally welcome change. The second part argues that there is logical space for a moderate, scientifically credible form of teleology, and that the converse case for moral decline is weak. It addresses the types, drivers and institutions of moral progress that allow for the storage, transmission and cumulative improvement of our normative infrastructure over time. Finally, the third part demonstrates why moral progress cannot be accounted for in metaethically realist terms. Moral Teleology will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in ethics, moral epistemology and moral psychology"--

Ethics, Evolutionary. --- Teleology. --- Design in natural phenomena, Study of --- Final cause --- Philosophy --- Causation --- Evolution --- Necessity (Philosophy) --- Ethics, Naturalistic --- Evolutionary ethics --- Naturalistic ethics --- Ethics --- Ethical relativism

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Hunting Causes and Using Them argues that causation is not one thing, as commonly assumed, but many. There is a huge variety of causal relations, each with different characterizing features, different methods for discovery and different uses to which it can be put. In this collection of new and previously published essays, Nancy Cartwright provides a critical survey of philosophical and economic literature on causality, with a special focus on the currently fashionable Bayes-nets and invariance methods - and it exposes a huge gap in that literature. Almost every account treats either exclusively how to hunt causes or how to use them. But where is the bridge between? It's no good knowing how to warrant a causal claim if we don't know what we can do with that claim once we have it. This book will interest philosophers, economists and social scientists.

Philosophy of science --- Economics --- Causation. --- Science --- Causalité --- Sciences --- Economie politique --- Philosophy. --- Philosophie --- Causalité --- Causation --- Normal science --- Causality --- Cause and effect --- Effect and cause --- Final cause --- Beginning --- God --- Metaphysics --- Philosophy --- Necessity (Philosophy) --- Teleology --- Arts and Humanities --- Science - Philosophy. --- Economics - Philosophy.

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The common cause principle says that every correlation is either due to a direct causal effect linking the correlated entities or is brought about by a third factor, a so-called common cause. The principle is of central importance in the philosophy of science, especially in causal explanation, causal modeling and in the foundations of quantum physics. Written for philosophers of science, physicists and statisticians, this book contributes to the debate over the validity of the common cause principle, by proving results that bring to the surface the nature of explanation by common causes. It provides a technical and mathematically rigorous examination of the notion of common cause, providing an analysis not only in terms of classical probability measure spaces, which is typical in the available literature, but in quantum probability theory as well. The authors provide numerous open problems to further the debate and encourage future research in this field.

Causation --- Science --- Physics --- Philosophy --- Causation. --- Normal science --- Philosophy of science --- Causality --- Cause and effect --- Effect and cause --- Final cause --- Beginning --- God --- Metaphysics --- Necessity (Philosophy) --- Teleology --- Philosophy. --- General and Others --- Science - Philosophy --- Physics - Philosophy

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Michael Tooley presents a major new philosophical theory of the nature of time. He argues for a dynamic conception of the universe, according to which past, present, and future are not merely subjective features of experience: past and present are real, while the future is not. The key to understanding the nature of time is to understand the relation between time and causation. Time, Tense, and Causation is a landmark treatment of one of the oldest and mostfascinating of intellectual problems; it provides sophisticated and stimulating discussions of a wide range of metaphysical issues.'Tooley's provocative book makes an extremely valuable contribution to the literature on the philosophy of time and is mandatory reading for anyone working in the area.' L. Nathan Oaklander, Mind.

Causation. --- Time. --- Hours (Time) --- Geodetic astronomy --- Nautical astronomy --- Horology --- Causality --- Cause and effect --- Effect and cause --- Final cause --- Beginning --- God --- Metaphysics --- Philosophy --- Necessity (Philosophy) --- Teleology --- Causalité --- Temps --- Temps (philosophie)