determine007

Eric Lindblom

Project Lead

Harvard

(h2o)

Determine: Theoretical Biology

Indeterminate factors are responsible for a loss of generality where determinate factors are responsible for closing of the system due to definition.

Lindblom

http://h2o.law.harvard.edu/ViewProject.do?projectID=541 

http://www.webster.com/dictionary/determine

Causal Determinism

Causal determinism is, roughly speaking, the idea that every event is necessitated by antecedent events and conditions together with the laws of nature. The idea is ancient, but first became subject to clarification and mathematical analysis in the eighteenth century. Determinism is deeply connected with our understanding of the physical sciences and their explanatory ambitions, on the one hand, and with our views about human free action on the other. In both of these general areas there is no agreement over whether determinism is true (or even whether it can be known true or false), and what the import for human agency would be in either case.

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Conceptual Issues in Determinism
• 3. The Epistemology of Determinism
• 4. The Status of Determinism in Physical Theories
• 5. Determinism and Human Action
• Bibliography
• Other Internet Resources
• Related Entries

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/determinism-causal/

Causality

"A dictionary definition of Causality is that the word denotes the logical relationship between one physical event (called cause) and another physical event (called effect) being the direct consequence (result) of the first event.^[1]. While the definition sounds simple enough, and while the use of causal concepts is common-place, the philosophical analysis of causality or causation has proved exceedingly difficult. The work of philosophers to understand causality and how best to characterize it extends over millenia. In the Western Tradition explicit discussion stretches back at least as far as Aristotle, and the topic remains a staple in contemporary philosophy journals. Causation is generally assumed to be some kind of relationship that holds between events, properties, variables, or states of affairs--but which one of these comprise the correct causal relata, and how best to characterize the nature of the relationship between them, has as yet no universally accepted answer. This article presents many of the varying perspectives on and approaches to the subject."

1. Random House Unabridged Dictionary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causality

Causality and Determinism

"In the philosophical tradition, the notions of determinism and causality are strongly linked: it is assumed that in a world of deterministic laws, causality may be said to reign supreme; and in any world where the causality is strong enough, determinism must hold."

http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00002071/

http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/view/subjects/causation.html 

http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/view/subjects/determinism-indeterminism.html

+