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    The earthquake is not the efficient cause of the fall of ... — Carmelics
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    Home/Causation
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The earthquake is not the efficient cause of the fall of the city

    Causation
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Efficient causation requires power
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    • 2.Power requires having a mind
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    • 3.The earthquake does not have a mind
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Reid's argument conflates efficient causation with agent causation, a distinction even Aristotle recognized in his four-cause schema.
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    • 2.Physical efficient causes in Aristotle's original framework are transmitters of motion or change, not necessarily agents with minds.
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    • 3.Restricting 'efficient cause' to minded agents retroactively imposes a non-standard definition onto a well-established metaphysical category.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Hume's regularity theory establishes that causation consists in constant conjunction, not the exercise of any intrinsic power or force.
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    • 2.If causation requires only regular succession, earthquakes can be efficient causes without possessing minds or intrinsic powers.
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    Topics

    Causation

    Connections

    1 topic

    Consciousness & Mind3 linked

    Related

    Efficient causation requires powerHume's regularity theory establishes that causation consists in constant conjunc...If causation requires only regular succession, earthquakes can be efficient caus...Physical efficient causes in Aristotle's original framework are transmitters of ...
    +5 moreShow less
    Power requires having a mindReid's argument conflates efficient causation with agent causation, a distinctio...Restricting 'efficient cause' to minded agents retroactively imposes a non-stand...The earthquake does not have a mindTherefore, the earthquake lacks power and cannot be an efficient cause

    Similar

    Therefore, the earthquake lacks power and cannot be an efficient cause81%The earthquake does not have a mind73%The motion of a falling object is caused by the object itself because ...72%Therefore, the sufficient cause of an event need not explain all featu...66%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: reid
    View source passageHide passage
    Reid endorses the idea that what is in our power is just what is up to us. He claims that the only entities that can have power are entities with minds. That is, sticks and stones are never invested with power, and are not, therefore, ever the efficient causes of any events. The earthquake might be the physical cause of the fall of the city, but it is not the efficient cause, Reid thinks, because it does not have a mind. Since it is not up to the earthquake whether or not the city falls, the ear
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit