Sumários
Causation (2)
10 Abril 2025, 14:00 • Ricardo Santos
David Lewis’s counterfactual theory of causation. Indicative and
counterfactual conditionals. Truth conditions for counterfactuals in terms of
comparative similarity between possible worlds. Analysis of causal dependence
between distinct particular (possible and actual) events. Analysis of causation
in terms of (chains of) causal dependence. How the theory answers three
challenges: to distinguish effects, epiphenomena and preempted potential causes
from genuine causes. A problem: causation by absence (or omission).
Causation (1)
3 Abril 2025, 14:00 • Ricardo Santos
Why is causation important. Hume’s regularity theory of causation.
Hume’s negative argument (for the claim that causation is not necessary
connection). Hume’s alternative analysis in terms of temporal priority,
contiguity and constant conjunction. Hume’s explanation for the mistaken belief
that causation involves necessary connection in terms of habit and expectation.
Problems for the regularity theory. How to distinguish accidental from causal
regularities? How to explain exceptions to causal regularities? How to account
for unique case causal relations? Mackie’s analysis of causation in terms of
INUS conditions. Critical discussion. An argument to the effect that US
(unnecessary but sufficient) conditions are arbitrarily long and never fully
specifiable. Skepticism about US conditions.
Possible worlds (3)
27 Março 2025, 14:00 • Ricardo Santos
Plantinga’s actualism, a moderate form of modal realism. Two main
claims: (i) everything is actual; (ii) possible worlds are abstract objects. To
simplify things, one can equate states of affairs with propositions. Possible
worlds are consistent and maximal sets of propositions. Accounting for
contingent existence by postulating variable domains. Different truth conditions
of “Possibly there are Fs” and “Some things are possibly F”. Two problems: (1)
Are there things that don’t exist? (2) Could there be facts (true propositions)
about things that don’t exist? Plantinga’s solution in terms of individual
essences (haecceities).
Possible worlds (2)
20 Março 2025, 14:00 • Ricardo Santos
Modal ambiguities: syntactic and semantic. De dicto and de re modalities. Actualism and possibilism. Lewis’s modal realism (cont.). Spatio-temporal individuation of worlds. No overlap between worlds and no causal relations. Counterparts. Promise of a reductive analysis of modality. Objections: irrelevance and ontological extravagance.
Possible worlds (1)
13 Março 2025, 14:00 • Ricardo Santos
The widely spread use of possible worlds in contemporary philosophy: in logic (truth-conditions for the modal operators), epistemology (epistemic possibilities), philosophy of language (propositions), metaphysics (properties and essences), philosophy of mind (supervenience of the mental). Kinds of necessity and possibility. Introduction to Lewis’s extreme modal realism: possible worlds as parallel concrete universes (or spacetimes). Lewis’s indexical view of actuality.