The direction of causation and the direction of conditionship

Journal of Philosophy 73 (8):193-207 (1976)
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Abstract

I criticize and emend J L Mackie's account of causal priority by replacing ‘fixity’ in its central clause by 'x is a causal condition of y, but y is not a causal condition of x'. This replacement works only if 'is a causal condition of' is not a symmetric relation. Even apart from our desire to account for causal priority, it is desirable to have an account of nonsymmetric conditionship. Truth, for example, is a condition of knowledge, but knowledge is not a condition of truth. My definitions of 'sufficient condition for' and 'necessary condition for' do not imply that p is a sufficient condition of q if and only if q is a necessary condition of p.

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David Sanford
Duke University

Citations of this work

Supervenience as a philosophical concept.Jaegwon Kim - 1990 - Metaphilosophy 21 (1-2):1-27.
Regularity theories reassessed.Michael Baumgartner - 2006 - Philosophia 36 (3):327-354.
Causal necessity and logical necessity.David H. Sanford - 1975 - Philosophical Studies 28 (2):185 - 194.
How to Make Things Have Happened.Graham Nerlich - 1979 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 9 (1):1 - 22.

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