Confidence and Causality Niels van Miltenburg Niels vanmiltenburgphil
Confidence and Causality Niels van Miltenburg Niels. vanmiltenburg@phil. uu. nl
Presentation Outline
Presentation Outline n Introduce von Wright’s ideas with the help of an example of an experiment
Presentation Outline n Introduce von Wright’s ideas with the help of an example of an experiment n Distinguish between von Wright’s “strong” and “weak” positions
Presentation Outline n Introduce von Wright’s ideas with the help of an example of an experiment n Distinguish between von Wright’s “strong” and “weak” positions n Argue that the “weak” position is the most interesting position
Magnifying Glass Example
Magnifying Glass Example n Does the intervention need to be a human action?
Magnifying Glass Example n n Does the intervention need to be a human action? Von Wright: “Yes”
Magnifying Glass Example n Does the intervention need to be a human action? Von Wright: “Yes” n What makes action so special? n
Magnifying Glass Example n n Does the intervention need to be a human action? Von Wright: “Yes” What makes action so special? Von Wright: There is a conceptual connection between the concepts of causation and action
Counterfactual Element in Action
Counterfactual Element in Action n Certain changes in nature would not have occurred had we not produced them
Counterfactual Element in Action n Certain changes in nature would not have occurred had we not produced them n We can only act because we are confident that the world remains fairly stable
Strong vs Weak
Strong vs Weak n Strong: ‘p causes q’ means that we could produce q by bringing about p
Strong vs Weak n Strong: ‘p causes q’ means that we could produce q by bringing about p n Weak: We distinguish between causal relations and accidental regularities by using the notion of action, which is conceptually connected with the notion of causation
“Causalaria”
“Causalaria”
“Causalaria”
“Causalaria”
“Causalaria” n A n B
Hume n Given the fact that we can only observe regularly succeeding events, why do we see them as causally linked?
Confidence and Knowledge
Confidence and Knowledge n Confidence is intrinsic to our actions and constitutes our ability to act
Confidence and Knowledge n Confidence is intrinsic to our actions and constitutes our ability to act n Analogy with Anscombe’s ‘knowledge without observation’
Thanks for Listening
- Slides: 26