From Cause to Causation: A Peircean PerspectiveFrom Cause to Causation presents both a critical analysis of C.S. Peirce's conception of causation, and a novel approach to causation, based upon the semeiotic of Peirce. The book begins with a review of the history of causation, and with a critical discussion of contemporary theories of the concept of `cause'. The author uncovers a number of inadequacies in the received views of causation, and discusses their historical roots. He makes a distinction between "causality", which is the relation between cause and effect, and causation, which is the production of a certain effect. He argues that, by focusing on causality, the contemporary theories fatally neglect the more fundamental problem of causation. The author successively discusses Peirce's theories of final causation, natural classes, semeiotic, and semeiotic causation. Finally, he uses Peirce's semeiotic to develop a new approach to causation, which relates causation to our experience of signs. |
Contents
SOME KEY MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE CONCEPT OF CAUSATION | 1 |
1 Causation in Ancient Greece | 2 |
causation exceptionless regularity and necessity | 5 |
2 Causation in the Middle Ages | 8 |
3 Causation in Modern Philosophy | 15 |
31 The Metaphysical Systems from Descartes till Leibniz | 17 |
32 Critical Philosophy from Locke till Mill | 27 |
Important Changes in the Meaning of Cause | 41 |
Definition of Peircean Natural Classes | 119 |
8 Why Believe in Natural Classes? | 121 |
9 Examples of Natural Classes | 122 |
92 The Chemical Elements | 123 |
93 The Biological Species | 126 |
10 Was Peirce a Pluralist Regarding Natural Classes? | 127 |
Natural Classes and Causation | 131 |
THE RIDDLE OF SEMEIOTIC CAUSATION | 133 |
CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO CAUSATION | 47 |
12 Causes and Counterfactual Dependency | 54 |
causes as MeanstoEnds | 56 |
14 Probabilistic Causation | 58 |
15 The Singularist Approach | 60 |
2 Basic Issues in the Contemporary Approaches to Causation | 64 |
22 The Relata of the Causal Relation | 67 |
23 Further Issues | 71 |
3 Conclusion | 73 |
PEIRCE ON FINAL CAUSATION | 75 |
2 Peirces Conception of Final Causation | 76 |
22 Final Causation and Efficient Causation | 80 |
23 Teleological and Mechanistic Processes Peirces Rejection of Dualism | 82 |
24 Teleology and Objective Chance | 84 |
25 Teleology as creative Developmental Teleology | 85 |
3 A Peircean Critique of Ernst Mayrs Theory of Teleology | 88 |
32 Mayrs Dualism | 91 |
33 Mayrs Idea of a Program as Causally Responsible for Teleological Processes | 93 |
4 Conclusion | 95 |
FINAL CAUSES AND NATURAL CLASSES | 97 |
1 Natural Kinds and Causation in Contemporary Philosophy | 99 |
2 Some Contemporary Interpretations of Peircean Natural Kinds | 101 |
22 Christopher Hookways Interpretation | 102 |
23 Sandra Rosenthals Interpretation | 103 |
3 Peirce versus Mill | 104 |
32 Natural Kinds and the Uniformity of Nature Peirces Earliest Discussion of Natural Kinds | 105 |
33 Peirces Baldwin Definition of Kind | 107 |
34 The PRECharacter | 108 |
4 Kinds and Classes | 109 |
5 Classification According to Final Causes | 112 |
6 Criteria of Demarcation | 116 |
1 Some Fundamental Conditions of Signs as Such | 134 |
12 Later Developments | 136 |
2 TL Short | 139 |
3 Joseph Ransdell | 144 |
4 Some Problems Generated by Shorts and Ransdells Views | 147 |
5 The Causal Role of the Dynamic Object | 148 |
52 Negative Evidence | 150 |
6 Icon Index and Symbol | 153 |
7 The Meaning of Determines | 160 |
8 Conclusion | 164 |
A SEMEIOTIC ACCOUNT OF CAUSATION | 167 |
11 Contemporary Approaches to Causation | 168 |
12 Two Mutually Incompatible Conceptions of Cause | 170 |
13 The Inadequacy of the Received View | 171 |
14 Two Mutually Incompatible Categoreal Frameworks | 176 |
Criticism of the Received View | 179 |
2 Necessary Conditions for a Theory of Causation | 180 |
3 Peirce on Causality and Causation | 181 |
32 Peirces Conception of Causation | 187 |
Facts versus Events | 190 |
34 Events and Processes | 192 |
Causality and Causation | 194 |
4 A Semeiotic Approach to Causation | 195 |
42 The Problem of Semeiotic Causation | 197 |
43 Semeiosis Provides the Formal Structure of Causation | 198 |
44 A Semeiotic Approach to Causation | 199 |
a Peircean Approach to Causation | 213 |
Notes | 219 |
| 239 | |
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Common terms and phrases
According to Peirce action analysis approach to causation Aristotelian Aristotle basic belong causal relations causation involves causes and effects chapter character characterized chemical elements classification concept of cause concrete consider contemporary context counterfactual definition dependence Descartes determined discussion distinction Ducasse dynamic object efficient cause elements entails example existence explain fact final cause final interpretant formal cause Hume Hume's icons individual Joseph Ransdell law-like Leibniz logical Mayr Mayr's means metaphysical Moreover motion natural classes natural kinds necessary and sufficient necessary condition necessity objective chance occurred ontology orthogenesis particular Peirce's conception Peirce's semeiotic Peirce's theory Peircean natural perspective philosophers possible presuppose principle probabilistic produced productive event Ransdell Ransdell's received view refer rejected relationship relevant semeiosis semeiotic causation sense Short specific structure sufficient conditions symbol synechism teleological character teleological process teleonomic theory of causation things transmission of forms triadic relation universal Whereas