Causation, Physics, and the Constitution of Reality
Russell's Republic Revisited
Huw Price editor Richard Corry editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:22nd Feb '07
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£132.50(9780199278183)
In philosophy as in ordinary life, cause and effect are twin pillars on which much of our thought seems based. But almost a century ago, Bertrand Russell declared that modern physics leaves these pillars without foundations. Russell's revolutionary conclusion was that 'the law of causality is a relic of a bygone age, surviving, like the monarchy, only because it is erroneously supposed to do no harm'. Russell's famous challenge remains unanswered. Despite dramatic advances in physics, the intervening century has taken us no closer to an explanation of how to find a place for causation in a world of the kind that physics reveals. In particular, we still have no satisfactory account of the directionality of causation - the difference between cause and effect, and the fact that causes typically precede their effects. In this important collection of new essays, 13 leading scholars revisit Russell's revolution, in search of reconciliation. The connecting theme in these essays is that to reconcile causation with physics, we need to put ourselves in the picture: we need to think about why creatures in our situation should present their world in causal terms.
This is an excellent collection of papers concerning the ontological status of causal relations in light of the microworld revealed by physics. * Marc Lange, Notre Dame Philosophical Reivew *
ISBN: 9780199278190
Dimensions: 230mm x 160mm x 30mm
Weight: 633g
416 pages