Actual Causality Halpern, Joseph Y
2016, 20160808, 20160812, 2016-08-08, 2016-08-12
eBook
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A new approach for defining causality and such related notions as degree of responsibility, degrees of blame, and causal explanation. Causality plays a central role in the way people structure the ...world; we constantly seek causal explanations for our observations. But what does it even mean that an event C “actually caused” event E ? The problem of defining actual causation goes beyond mere philosophical speculation. For example, in many legal arguments, it is precisely what needs to be established in order to determine responsibility. The philosophy literature has been struggling with the problem of defining causality since Hume. In this book, Joseph Halpern explores actual causality, and such related notions as degree of responsibility, degree of blame, and causal explanation. The goal is to arrive at a definition of causality that matches our natural language usage and is helpful, for example, to a jury deciding a legal case, a programmer looking for the line of code that cause some software to fail, or an economist trying to determine whether austerity caused a subsequent depression. Halpern applies and expands an approach to causality that he and Judea Pearl developed, based on structural equations. He carefully formulates a definition of causality, and building on this, defines degree of responsibility, degree of blame, and causal explanation. He concludes by discussing how these ideas can be applied to such practical problems as accountability and program verification. Technical details are generally confined to the final section of each chapter and can be skipped by non-mathematical readers.
The mystery of birth and death, of fate and destiny, of the nature of wisdom, and of the meaning of life itself have preoccupied philosophers since time immemorial. Some of the perplexities of our ...moral life form the basis of Christopher Hamilton's book. In a series of original and perceptive philosophical essays - including those on 'Birth and Death', 'Virtue and Human Flourishing', 'The Need to Sleep', 'Sex', 'Truth and Reality', 'Vanity and Destiny' and 'The Fear of Death'- the author reflects on the nature of morality and its relation to experience; on the individual mind and its place in philosophy; and on the strangeness of life itself.Drawing widely on literature and philosophy, and grouping many of its reflections on thoughts found there - from Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, from Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, George Eliot, Kafka, Jean-Paul Sartre, D H Lawrence and others - Living Philosophy has some affinities with the philosophy practised by such figures as Martha Nussbaum, Stanley Cavell and Peter Winch. Written in a gentle, meditative and exploratory style, the book develops a way of approaching philosophy that opens up room not so much to answer the pressing questions of life as to deepen our sense of what those questions are.Features*Can be used for both introductory and advanced courses on ethics*Engages with contemporary philosophical and cultural issues*Provides numerous literary and philosophical examples*The clear, direct and non-technical style of writing makes the book accessible to those outside academic life who are interested in philosophy and to established philosophers*Constitutes a bold critique of current academic writings in the area
The first comprehensive anthology of Jean-François Lyotard's writings together with a critical guide. The Lyotard Reader and Guide is designed as a one-stop companion to his thought. It covers the ...full range of Lyotard's work, from beginning to end, through his three main books ( Discours, figure, Libidinal Economy and The Differend ) and up to his influential essays in The Inhuman and Postmodern Fables. The readings are organised in sections on philosophy, politics, art and literature for ease of use. Detailed introductions to each section explain Lyotard's key ideas and raise criticisms, providing a clear critical introduction to Lyotard and his works. As a sourcebook and guide the book will be indispensable for the subjects touched by Lyotard's ground- breaking conceptual innovations and ideas, notably, philosophy, critical theory, literature, art and politics.Key features *The most up-to-date and comprehensive volume available*Includes the most important as well as less well known texts and newly translated work*Carefully selected and presented by leading Lyotard scholars*Broad coverage in sections covering Philosophy, Literature, Politics and Art*Full explanatory introductions to each section as well as a General Introduction provide a critical guide to Lyotard's work
Friedrich Nietzsche has emerged as one of the most important and influential modern philosophers. For several decades, the book series Monographien und Texte zur Nietzsche-Forschung (MTNF) has set ...the agenda in a rapidly growing and changing field of Nietzsche scholarship. The scope of the series is interdisciplinary and international in orientation reflects the entire spectrum of research on Nietzsche, from philosophy to literary studies and political theory. The series publishes monographs and edited volumes that undergo a strict peer-review process. The book series is led by an international team of editors, whose work represents the full range of current Nietzsche scholarship.
