Causal Powers and Capacities

Mumford, S.

Abstract

A dispositional ontology, admitting a category of power or capacity, is thought by some to offer a vital insight into the nature of causation. Proponents believe that other ontologies lack the metaphysical resources to capture this insight. At its most ambitious, a causal powers ontology purports to offer a solution to, or dissolution of, the problem of causation. The argument is that the traditional problem of causation is generated by a faulty Humean ontology in which the world is described as a sum of ‘loose and separate’ distinct existences. Once the main Humean premise is accepted, of there being no necessary connections between distinct existences, then the notion of causation becomes immediately problematic.

Citation

Mumford, S. (2010). Causal Powers and Capacities. In H. Beebee, C. Hitchcock, & P. Menzies (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Causation (265 - 278). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199279739.003.0013

• Publication Date: 2010
• Deposit Date: Aug 20, 2019
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Pages: 265 - 278
• Series Title: Oxford Handbooks
• Book Title: The Oxford Handbook of Causation
• Chapter Number: 12
• ISBN: 9780191577246,9780199279739
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199279739.003.0013