Kirchhoff, Michael and Kiverstein, Julian (2021) Diachronic Constitution. [Preprint]
|
Text
Diachronic Constitution.pdf Download (216kB) | Preview |
Abstract
It is often argued that constitution and causation are different kinds of metaphysical relations. Constitution, like other grounding relations, is assumed to be synchronic (it happens at a time), while causation is diachronic (it happens over time). It is this synchronic-diachronic division that, more than other difference-makers, is argued to distinguish grounding relations such as constitution from causation. This paper develops an account of a species of constitution that happens over time. We call this type of constitution, diachronic constitution. We show how diachronic constitution is a consequence of a common type of causation, often ignored in metaphysical discussions of causation: continuous reciprocal causation. Hence, constitution is not only sometimes like causation; it can also be a form of causation. We argue that temporalising the constitution relation is neither as remarkable nor as problematic as it might initially seem. It is inevitable, given local interactions between microscale and macroscale states in dynamical systems.
| Export/Citation: | EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL |
| Social Networking: |
| Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creators: |
|
|||||||||
| Keywords: | diachronic constitution; material constitution; mechanistic constitution; metaphysical dependence; reciprocal causation; dynamical systems | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation |
|||||||||
| Depositing User: | Dr Michael Kirchhoff | |||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 14 Oct 2021 01:29 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 14 Oct 2021 01:29 | |||||||||
| Item ID: | 19690 | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation |
|||||||||
| Date: | 2021 | |||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19690 |
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[feed]](http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/style/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}