The causal structure of human historical inevitability历史不可避免性的因果结构
个人简介:侯维之(Richard W. T. Hou),台湾中正大学副教授,哲学博士(Sydney University, Australia)。专长:哲学方法学、历史因果理论、(后设)实验哲学、Quine哲学。最新研究方向包括:以反事实语意连结underdetermination与empirical adequacy,探讨科学实在论与非实在论(scientific realism and non-realism)的论争,同时探究缩简形上学(deflationary metaphysics)/Carnapian形上学与Quinean存有学许诺(ontological commitment)的关系,尝试建立某种中立的科学形上学。
摘要:Was there any event in human history whose occurrence was inevitable? If so, in what sense was it inevitable? Mainstream theories roughly follow Ben-Menahem’s sensitivity principle, according to which the necessity/contingency of a historical event depends on its degree of sensitivity to the initial conditions of its occurrence. In contrast, I propose to account for the notion of historical inevitability in a metaphysically modal sense using the idea of a (metaphysical) causal sufficient condition. The historical inevitability of the occurrence of a target event results from the obtainment of a set of events whose types constitute one configuration of the causal sufficient condition(s) of the event type to which the target event belongs.
机率式的倾向遮盖者与倾向条件句分析
个人简介:萧铭源,东吴大学哲学系副教授兼系主任,中正大学哲学博士,关心形而上学、知识论、哲学逻辑以及这几个领域的交织议题,例如:倾向条件句分析(conditional analysis of dispositions)、能力知识(knowledge-how)、自由意志与责任、干预论式(interventionist)的因果观点等。近年的研究重心聚焦在考察倾向应用理论的可行性,以及其他可能性原则(the principle of alternative possibilities)与法兰克福式案例(Frankfurt-style cases)的相关讨论。主要的研究成果,发表在《台大哲学论评》、《东吴哲学学报》、《台大文史哲学报》、《哲学与文化》以及Philosophia等学术期刊。
摘要:倾向(dispositions)的展现可以被遮盖。例如,一个致命毒药在被人吃下之后并没有致人于死,因为她在吃下毒药之后立刻吃下解毒剂。在此案例中,解毒剂扮演的角色一般通称为遮盖者(masks/maskers):在刺激条件满足后,遮盖了相应的倾向展现。文献上,对于遮盖者的研究主要来自于「倾向条件句分析」(conditional analysis of dispositions, CAD)的相关讨论,其中「是否有CAD理论可以免于遮盖者反例的挑战?」更是近30年来的核心议题。Turyn (2021)对遮盖者提出一种全新分析,称之为机率式的倾向遮盖者(probabilistic dispositional masks, PDM)。他宣称,PDM相容于各种倾向理论,甚至能帮助CAD一劳永逸地解决遮盖者反例,所以是最有用的遮盖者分析。本文论证,PDM与CAD之间具有内在冲突,其结果是「接受PDM就无法主张CAD」,因此PDM并不像Turyn所宣称的「兼容于所有倾向理论」,当然也无法帮助CAD理论摆脱遮盖者反例的威胁。
Determinism, Indeterminism, or Something Else
个人简介:王一奇现为中正大学哲学系教授,美国德州大学奥斯汀校区哲学博士,研究兴趣集中在科学、逻辑、与形上学三者相纠结的跨领域哲学议题上,包含假设性思考,科学方法及推理的哲学议题,模态性质的逻辑及知识论议题,以及经验为基础的理由理论等。多篇论文发表于国内外著名期刊,并获得数项重要学术奖励。书籍著作包含《另类时空图书馆》及《狮头人身、毒苹果与变化球》。
摘要:This paper argues against the platitude that determinism and indeterminism are exhaustive world views. To accomplish our objective, I first argue that determinism and indeterminism are not logically exhaustive, and then advance to investigating a metaphysical alternative to determinism and indeterminism, which is call the causal-engaging view that originates from the causal modeling framework in contemporary methodologies of scientific practice.