causality and pluralism
Dear all,
late in the debate, and running the risk to simplify things that
have already been discussed in a highly elaborate manner...
Nevertheless, what do you think of David Hume's concept of
causality and its usefulness in the design context?
Probably difficult to accept for some: it always requires an
observer. Yet, in my view it provides a framework, which comprises the
entire (continuous?) spectrum from pure "determinism" (based
on 1st order observation, e.g. the motion of planets) to causation (by
"accident" or by human "intention", based on 2nd
order observation; also "accident" is an interpretation of
an observation).
The most important thing for me: trying to clearly position the
observations in the spectrum mentioned (which requires a mapping of
concepts of causality) and trying to understand why someone (including
yourself) asserts something.
By the way: My intention (as I interpret this intervention in the
debate) is motivated in my urge to relate things / concepts, to create
systems of understanding (for myself), to create some order in the
chaos of languaging...
The philosopher
who produced the most striking analysis of causality was David Hume.
He asserted that it was impossible to know that certain laws of cause
and effect always apply - no matter how many times one observe them
occurring. Just because the sun has risen every day since the begining
of the Earth does not mean that it will rise again tomorrow. However,
it is impossible to go about one's life without assuming such
connections and the best that we can do is to maintain an open mind
and never presume that we know any laws of causality for certain. This
was used as an argument against metaphysics, ideology and attempts to
find theories for everything. A.J. Ayer claimed that his law of
verification was an application of Hume's teaching, yet it was, in
fact, exactly what Hume argued against - assuming that empirical
observation could lead to definite knowledge. Karl Popper clarified
matters with his law of falsification, which is more in line with
Hume's teachings that any new experience could disprove a law that had
been previously thought to be certain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causality#Hume
Jonas
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