Causality: Philosophy PDF

Causality David Hume (1711-1776) TEMPORAL PRIORITY OF CAUSE AND EFFECT- The cause must always occur before the effect in order to understand the effect, we must learn the context of what caused something to happen Ex: You got food poisoning BECAUSE you ate spoiled food. Your food...

Causality David Hume (1711-1776) TEMPORAL PRIORITY OF CAUSE AND EFFECT- The cause must always occur before the effect in order to understand the effect, we must learn the context of what caused something to happen Ex: You got food poisoning BECAUSE you ate spoiled food. Your food was spoiled BECAUSE you took too long to eat it. You took too long to eat your food BECAUSE you were too busy. CONTIGUITY IN SPACE AND TIME- Effects that take place IMMEDIATELY after initiating the cause Ex: A bullet that hits its target IMMEDIATELY after pulling the trigger of a gun. A light bulb turning on IMMEDIATELY after flipping the light switch on the wall. A man reacting to pain IMMEDIATELY after punching him in the face. NECESSARY CONNECTION- If there is a cause to an action, the effect MUST/WILL occur even if it hasn’t happened yet. Ex: If I don’t attend my classes, I WILL fail my subject. If I don’t go to the doctor for my check up, I WILL definitely get sick. If I exercise daily, I WILL become physically fit. 2 kinds of causation Event causation – A non physical event that happened Agent causation – A physical being that caused the event to happen Ex: Event Causation – A baseball player hits the ball with the bat Agent causation – The baseball player CHOOSING to swing the bat so he can hit the ball. Determinism -Freedom is impossible since all our actions have a reason to it. (no action is not caused) Fatalism- the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. (Oxford dictionary) Libertarianism- Does not deny determinism, but believes it is compatible with freedom. 1. Argument for Deliberation: We are free to assess the situation and determine the possible outcomes we want. 2. Argument for Agent causation: Some decisions we make are not caused by events, but by agents who are not considered events. 3. Compatibilism: All our actions are determined, but we still have moral responsibilities that imply freedom.