Stuart, Glennan and Phyllis, Illari (2018) Varieties of Mechanisms. [Preprint]

Text 25 Varieties of Mechanisms with Stuart.docx Download (48kB)

Abstract

The things that scientists and philosophers have called mechanisms are a diverse lot. In this Chapter we provide some taxonomic principles to help sort them out. We start with the permissive conception called minimal mechanism, which suggests that a mechanism consists of entities whose activities and interactions are organized so as to be responsible for some phenomenon. We then sort mechanistic varieties by considering the varieties of phenomena, varieties of entities and activities/interactions, varieties of organization and also varieties of origins (etiologies). We explore interdependencies within this taxonomic space, and consider why certain varieties of mechanisms are characteristic of certain scientific domains, how many of these varieties cross domains, and how different varieties are relevant to different kinds of metaphysical or methodological projects.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Stuart, Glennan Phyllis, Illari 0000-0002-4211-3332
Keywords:	Mechanisms; kinds
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation
Depositing User:	Dr Phyllis Illari
Date Deposited:	28 Sep 2018 17:28
Last Modified:	28 Sep 2018 17:28
Item ID:	15071
Official URL:	https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-o...
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation
Date:	2018
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/15071

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item