Mechanistic Causation and Constraints: Perspectival Parts and Powers, Non-perspectival Modal Patterns (2020)
Winning, Jason (Author)
British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
Volume: 71
Issue: 4
Pages: 1385-1409
Any successful account of the metaphysics of mechanistic causation must satisfy at least five key desiderata. In this article, I lay out these five desiderata and explain why existing accounts of the metaphysics of mechanistic causation fail to satisfy them. I then present an alternative account that does satisfy the five desiderata. According to this alternative account, we must resort to a type of ontological entity that is new to metaphysics, but not to science: constraints. In this article, I explain how a constraints-based metaphysics fits best with the emerging consensus on the nature of mechanistic explanation. 1. Introduction2. Renormalizability2.1. The first two desiderata: Intrinsicness and productivity2.2. The third desideratum: Scientific validity or non-mysteriousness2.3. The fourth desideratum: Directionality2.4. The fifth desideratum: Perspectival nature of mechanisms3. Constraints and Causation3.1. Multi-perspectival realism and causal structure3.2. Causal structure as laws3.3. Causal structures in analytical mechanics: Constraints3.4. A metaphysics inspired by analytical mechanics: Constraints as ontologically primitive modal structures4. Constraints and Mechanistic Causal Powers 4.1. Inter- versus intra-perspectival categories4.2. Mechanistic causal powers are grounded by constraints4.3. Intrinsicness and constraints4.4. Constraints and productiveness4.5. Constraints and directionality5. Conclusion
...MoreSimilar Citations
Book
Beate Krickel;
(2019)
The Mechanical World: The Metaphysical Commitments of the New Mechanistic Approach
(/isis/citation/CBB345092339/)
Article
Karina Alleva;
José Díez;
Lucia Federico;
(2017)
Models, theory structure and mechanisms in biochemistry: The case of allosterism
(/isis/citation/CBB541545262/)
Article
Lauren N. Ross;
(2021)
Causal Concepts in Biology: How Pathways Differ from Mechanisms and Why It Matters
(/isis/citation/CBB579689608/)
Article
Alexander R. Fiorentino;
Olaf Dammann;
(2015)
Evidence, illness, and causation: An epidemiological perspective on the Russo–Williamson Thesis
(/isis/citation/CBB556890631/)
Book
Stuart Glennan;
(2017)
The New Mechanical Philosophy
(/isis/citation/CBB462575570/)
Article
Nancy Cartwright;
(2016)
Contingency and the order of nature
(/isis/citation/CBB961115976/)
Book
Markus Schrenk;
(2016)
Metaphysics of Science: A Systematic and Historical Introduction
(/isis/citation/CBB675008618/)
Book
Sandbothe, Mike;
(2001)
The Temporalization of Time: Basic Tendencies in Modern Debate on Time in Philosophy of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB000410589/)
Book
Stephen Mumford;
Matthew Tugby;
(2013)
Metaphysics and Science
(/isis/citation/CBB707613342/)
Article
Patrick J. Connolly;
(2021)
Causation and Gravitation in George Cheyne's Newtonian Natural Philosophy
(/isis/citation/CBB381679846/)
Book
Psillos, Stathis;
(2002)
Causation and Explanation
(/isis/citation/CBB000410587/)
Book
Dudley, John;
(2012)
Aristotle's Concept of Chance: Accidents, Cause, Necessity, and Determinism
(/isis/citation/CBB001201754/)
Article
Janiak, Andrew;
(2013)
Three Concepts of Causation in Newton
(/isis/citation/CBB001320264/)
Book
Rosenthal, Sandra B;
(2000)
Time, Continuity, and Indeterminacy: A Pragmatic Engagement with Contemporary Perspectives
(/isis/citation/CBB000410588/)
Article
Nickelsen, Kärin;
Graßhoff, Gerd;
(2011)
In Pursuit of Formaldehyde: Causally Explanatory Models and Falsification
(/isis/citation/CBB001024015/)
Article
Weber, Erik;
Ylikoski, Petri;
(2005)
Preface to Special Issue Roles, Disposition and Explanation
(/isis/citation/CBB000640131/)
Book
John Losee;
(2017)
Complementarity, Causality and Explanation
(/isis/citation/CBB037277228/)
Article
Finnur Dellsén;
(2019)
Should scientific realists embrace theoretical conservatism?
(/isis/citation/CBB125490244/)
Article
Thalos, Mariam;
(2002)
Explanation is a Genus: An Essay on the Varieties of Scientific Explanation
(/isis/citation/CBB000202904/)
Essay Review
Dowe, Phil;
(2000)
Causality and explanation
(/isis/citation/CBB000110304/)
Be the first to comment!