Winning, Jason
(2018)
Mechanistic Causation and Constraints: Perspectival Parts and Powers, Non-Perspectival Modal Patterns.
British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.
Abstract
Any successful account of the metaphysics of mechanistic causation must satisfy at least five key desiderata. In this paper, 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 which 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 paper, I explain how a constraints-based metaphysics fits best with the emerging consensus on the nature of mechanistic explanation.
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Mechanistic Causation and Constraints: Perspectival Parts and Powers, Non-Perspectival Modal Patterns. (deposited 31 Mar 2018 02:51)
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