Concept
4 readings
Causal necessity
Concept · 4 readings
An observed conjunction is not the same as a connection that must hold. Compare explanations that appeal to natural powers, conditions and divine action.
All readings
4 readings · Title A–Z
Guided course · Module 9 · Lesson 51
Habit, causation and the self
Hume traces our expectations beyond observed cases to custom, and questions whether we ever perceive an unchanging self. His account of the self leaves a difficulty he kept open.
Guided course · Module 6 · Lesson 33
Reasoning across faith and nature
Aquinas answers a question by setting out objections, giving his answer and replying to each. The lesson follows one such question, then examines the limits of proof from effects and the place of practical reasoning in natural law.
Guided course · Module 6 · Lesson 31
What can reason establish about causation?
Al-Ghazali challenges causal necessity, and Averroes defends the natural powers of things. What does observation establish, and how does each account explain regularity, conditions and possible exceptions?
Guided course · Module 10 · Lesson 55
What must experience already involve?
Kant asks what conditions any objective experience must meet. The lesson separates those conditions from knowledge of particular causes and from things considered in themselves.