On Efficient Causality

On Efficient Causality

Author: Francisco Suárez

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1994-01-01

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 9780300060072

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The Spanish Jesuit Francisco Suarez (1548-1617) was an eminent philosopher and theologian whose Disputationes Metaphysicae was first published in Spain in 1597 and was widely studied throughout Europe during the seventeenth century. The Disputationes Metaphysicae had a great influence on the development of early modern philosophy and on such well-known figures as Descartes and Leibniz. This is the first time that Disputations 17, 18, and 19 have been translated into English. The Metaphysical Disputations provide an excellent philosophical introduction to the medieval Aristotelian discussion of efficient causality. The work constitutes a synthesis of monumental proportions: problematic issues are lucidly delineated and the various arguments are laid out in depth. Disputations 17, 18, and 19 deal explicitly with such issues as the nature of causality, the types of efficient causes, the prerequisites for causal action, causal contingency, human free choice, and chance.


Book Synopsis On Efficient Causality by : Francisco Suárez

Download or read book On Efficient Causality written by Francisco Suárez and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1994-01-01 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Spanish Jesuit Francisco Suarez (1548-1617) was an eminent philosopher and theologian whose Disputationes Metaphysicae was first published in Spain in 1597 and was widely studied throughout Europe during the seventeenth century. The Disputationes Metaphysicae had a great influence on the development of early modern philosophy and on such well-known figures as Descartes and Leibniz. This is the first time that Disputations 17, 18, and 19 have been translated into English. The Metaphysical Disputations provide an excellent philosophical introduction to the medieval Aristotelian discussion of efficient causality. The work constitutes a synthesis of monumental proportions: problematic issues are lucidly delineated and the various arguments are laid out in depth. Disputations 17, 18, and 19 deal explicitly with such issues as the nature of causality, the types of efficient causes, the prerequisites for causal action, causal contingency, human free choice, and chance.


Efficient Causation

Efficient Causation

Author: Tad M. Schmaltz

Publisher: Oxford Philosophical Concepts

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 0199782172

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"This volume is a contribution to the Oxford Philosophical Concepts series, the main goal of which is to provide historical accounts of the development of central philosophical concepts. Among these concepts would seem to be that of efficient causation (or, today, simply causation). Causation is now commonly supposed to involve a succession that instantiates some law-like regularity. This understanding of causality has a history that includes various interrelated conceptions of efficient causation that date from ancient Greek philosophy and that extend to contemporary discussions of causation in metaphysics and philosophy of science. The consideration here of this history is divided into three sections comprising eleven chapters total. The first section concerns concepts of efficient causation in Aristotle, the Stoics, late antiquity and earlier medieval philosophy, and later medieval philosophy dating from Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) to Ockham. The second concerns the different forms of this concept in the modern period, starting with late scholasticism (as represented in Suaréz) and Descartes, and including Spinoza and Leibniz, Malebranche and Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Finally, there is a third section divided into a consideration of conceptions of causation in contemporary philosophy that derive from the work of Hume and Aristotle, respectively. A distinctive feature of the volume is that it also includes four short "Reflections" that explore the significance of the concept of efficient causation for literature, the history of music, the history of science and contemporary art theory"--


Book Synopsis Efficient Causation by : Tad M. Schmaltz

Download or read book Efficient Causation written by Tad M. Schmaltz and published by Oxford Philosophical Concepts. This book was released on 2014 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume is a contribution to the Oxford Philosophical Concepts series, the main goal of which is to provide historical accounts of the development of central philosophical concepts. Among these concepts would seem to be that of efficient causation (or, today, simply causation). Causation is now commonly supposed to involve a succession that instantiates some law-like regularity. This understanding of causality has a history that includes various interrelated conceptions of efficient causation that date from ancient Greek philosophy and that extend to contemporary discussions of causation in metaphysics and philosophy of science. The consideration here of this history is divided into three sections comprising eleven chapters total. The first section concerns concepts of efficient causation in Aristotle, the Stoics, late antiquity and earlier medieval philosophy, and later medieval philosophy dating from Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) to Ockham. The second concerns the different forms of this concept in the modern period, starting with late scholasticism (as represented in Suaréz) and Descartes, and including Spinoza and Leibniz, Malebranche and Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Finally, there is a third section divided into a consideration of conceptions of causation in contemporary philosophy that derive from the work of Hume and Aristotle, respectively. A distinctive feature of the volume is that it also includes four short "Reflections" that explore the significance of the concept of efficient causation for literature, the history of music, the history of science and contemporary art theory"--


Efficient Causality in Aristotle and St. Thomas

Efficient Causality in Aristotle and St. Thomas

Author: Francis Xavier Meehan

Publisher:

Published: 1940

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Efficient Causality in Aristotle and St. Thomas by : Francis Xavier Meehan

Download or read book Efficient Causality in Aristotle and St. Thomas written by Francis Xavier Meehan and published by . This book was released on 1940 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Unlocking Divine Action

Unlocking Divine Action

Author: Michael J. Dodds

Publisher: CUA Press

Published: 2012-09-26

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0813219892

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Provides a sustained account of how the thought of Aquinas may be used in conjunction with contemporary science to deepen our understanding of divine action and address such issues as creation, providence, prayer, and miracles.


Book Synopsis Unlocking Divine Action by : Michael J. Dodds

Download or read book Unlocking Divine Action written by Michael J. Dodds and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a sustained account of how the thought of Aquinas may be used in conjunction with contemporary science to deepen our understanding of divine action and address such issues as creation, providence, prayer, and miracles.


Descartes on Causation

Descartes on Causation

Author: Tad M. Schmaltz

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-01-31

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0199958505

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This book is a systematic study of Descartes' theory of causation and its relation to the medieval and early modern scholastic philosophy that provides its proper historical context. The argument presented here is that even though Descartes offered a dualistic ontology that differs radically from what we find in scholasticism, his views on causation were profoundly influenced by scholastic thought on this issue. This influence is evident not only in his affirmation in the Meditations of the abstract scholastic axioms that a cause must contain the reality of its effects and that conservation does not differ in reality from creation, but also in the details of the accounts of body-body interaction in his physics, of mind-body interaction in his psychology, and of the causation that he took to be involved in free human action. In contrast to those who have read Descartes as endorsing the "occasionalist" conclusion that God is the only real cause, a central thesis of this study is that he accepted what in the context of scholastic debates regarding causation is the antipode of occasionalism, namely, the view that creatures rather than God are the causal source of natural change. What emerges from the defense of this interpretation of Descartes is a new understanding of his contribution to modern thought on causation.


Book Synopsis Descartes on Causation by : Tad M. Schmaltz

Download or read book Descartes on Causation written by Tad M. Schmaltz and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-31 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a systematic study of Descartes' theory of causation and its relation to the medieval and early modern scholastic philosophy that provides its proper historical context. The argument presented here is that even though Descartes offered a dualistic ontology that differs radically from what we find in scholasticism, his views on causation were profoundly influenced by scholastic thought on this issue. This influence is evident not only in his affirmation in the Meditations of the abstract scholastic axioms that a cause must contain the reality of its effects and that conservation does not differ in reality from creation, but also in the details of the accounts of body-body interaction in his physics, of mind-body interaction in his psychology, and of the causation that he took to be involved in free human action. In contrast to those who have read Descartes as endorsing the "occasionalist" conclusion that God is the only real cause, a central thesis of this study is that he accepted what in the context of scholastic debates regarding causation is the antipode of occasionalism, namely, the view that creatures rather than God are the causal source of natural change. What emerges from the defense of this interpretation of Descartes is a new understanding of his contribution to modern thought on causation.


Suárez on Aristotelian Causality

Suárez on Aristotelian Causality

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2015-03-31

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 9004292160

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Suárez on Aristotelian Causality offers the first comprehensive account of Francisco Suárez’s position with respect to the four Aristotelian causes in his Metaphysical Disputations. Suárez deals with these causes in the greater part of Metaphysical Disputations 12–27 approximately a third of his famous work on metaphysics. Nevertheless, no previous attempt at analysis of causality as a part of his overall metaphysical position has been offered. The material, formal, efficient and final cause as understood by Suárez each receives a chapter in this volume just as his general account of causality is considered. This should be relevant to anyone interested in the role and pertinence of Aristotelian causality for Suárez’s metaphysics. Contributors (in order of appearance) are Jakob Leth Fink, Erik Åkerlund, Kara Richardson, Stephan Schmid and Sydney Penner.


Book Synopsis Suárez on Aristotelian Causality by :

Download or read book Suárez on Aristotelian Causality written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2015-03-31 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suárez on Aristotelian Causality offers the first comprehensive account of Francisco Suárez’s position with respect to the four Aristotelian causes in his Metaphysical Disputations. Suárez deals with these causes in the greater part of Metaphysical Disputations 12–27 approximately a third of his famous work on metaphysics. Nevertheless, no previous attempt at analysis of causality as a part of his overall metaphysical position has been offered. The material, formal, efficient and final cause as understood by Suárez each receives a chapter in this volume just as his general account of causality is considered. This should be relevant to anyone interested in the role and pertinence of Aristotelian causality for Suárez’s metaphysics. Contributors (in order of appearance) are Jakob Leth Fink, Erik Åkerlund, Kara Richardson, Stephan Schmid and Sydney Penner.


Aristotle on Matter, Form, and Moving Causes

Aristotle on Matter, Form, and Moving Causes

Author: Devin Henry

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-12-05

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1108475574

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Examines Aristotle's doctrine of hylomorphism and its importance for understanding the process by which substances come into being.


Book Synopsis Aristotle on Matter, Form, and Moving Causes by : Devin Henry

Download or read book Aristotle on Matter, Form, and Moving Causes written by Devin Henry and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-12-05 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines Aristotle's doctrine of hylomorphism and its importance for understanding the process by which substances come into being.


Aristotle's Four Causes

Aristotle's Four Causes

Author: Boris Hennig

Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781433159299

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This book examines Aristotle's four causes (material, formal, efficient, and final), offering a systematic discussion of the relation between form and matter, causation, taxonomy, and teleology. The overall aim is to show that the four causes form a system, so that the form of a natural thing relates to its matter as the final cause of a natural process relates to its efficient cause. Aristotle's Four Causes reaches two novel and distinctive conclusions. The first is that the formal cause or essence of a natural thing is not a property of this thing but a generic natural thing. The second is that the final cause of a process is not its purpose but the course that processes of its kind typically take.


Book Synopsis Aristotle's Four Causes by : Boris Hennig

Download or read book Aristotle's Four Causes written by Boris Hennig and published by Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines Aristotle's four causes (material, formal, efficient, and final), offering a systematic discussion of the relation between form and matter, causation, taxonomy, and teleology. The overall aim is to show that the four causes form a system, so that the form of a natural thing relates to its matter as the final cause of a natural process relates to its efficient cause. Aristotle's Four Causes reaches two novel and distinctive conclusions. The first is that the formal cause or essence of a natural thing is not a property of this thing but a generic natural thing. The second is that the final cause of a process is not its purpose but the course that processes of its kind typically take.


Rational Causation

Rational Causation

Author: Eric Marcus

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-03-20

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0674068742

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We explain what people think and do by citing their reasons, but how do such explanations work, and what do they tell us about the nature of reality? Contemporary efforts to address these questions are often motivated by the worry that our ordinary conception of rationality contains a kernel of supernaturalism—a ghostly presence that meditates on sensory messages and orchestrates behavior on the basis of its ethereal calculations. In shunning this otherworldly conception, contemporary philosophers have focused on the project of “naturalizing” the mind, viewing it as a kind of machine that converts sensory input and bodily impulse into thought and action. Eric Marcus rejects this choice between physicalism and supernaturalism as false and defends a third way. He argues that philosophers have failed to take seriously the idea that rational explanations postulate a distinctive sort of causation—rational causation. Rational explanations do not reveal the same sorts of causal connections that explanations in the natural sciences do. Rather, rational causation draws on the theoretical and practical inferential abilities of human beings. Marcus defends this position against a wide array of physicalist arguments that have captivated philosophers of mind for decades. Along the way he provides novel views on, for example, the difference between rational and nonrational animals and the distinction between states and events.


Book Synopsis Rational Causation by : Eric Marcus

Download or read book Rational Causation written by Eric Marcus and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-20 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We explain what people think and do by citing their reasons, but how do such explanations work, and what do they tell us about the nature of reality? Contemporary efforts to address these questions are often motivated by the worry that our ordinary conception of rationality contains a kernel of supernaturalism—a ghostly presence that meditates on sensory messages and orchestrates behavior on the basis of its ethereal calculations. In shunning this otherworldly conception, contemporary philosophers have focused on the project of “naturalizing” the mind, viewing it as a kind of machine that converts sensory input and bodily impulse into thought and action. Eric Marcus rejects this choice between physicalism and supernaturalism as false and defends a third way. He argues that philosophers have failed to take seriously the idea that rational explanations postulate a distinctive sort of causation—rational causation. Rational explanations do not reveal the same sorts of causal connections that explanations in the natural sciences do. Rather, rational causation draws on the theoretical and practical inferential abilities of human beings. Marcus defends this position against a wide array of physicalist arguments that have captivated philosophers of mind for decades. Along the way he provides novel views on, for example, the difference between rational and nonrational animals and the distinction between states and events.


Aquinas on Efficient Causation and Causal Powers

Aquinas on Efficient Causation and Causal Powers

Author: Gloria Frost

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-08-11

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1009225421

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This book reconstructs and analyses Aquinas's theories of efficient causation and causal powers.


Book Synopsis Aquinas on Efficient Causation and Causal Powers by : Gloria Frost

Download or read book Aquinas on Efficient Causation and Causal Powers written by Gloria Frost and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-08-11 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reconstructs and analyses Aquinas's theories of efficient causation and causal powers.