Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 22:13:31 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: BHA:reasons as causes



Hi all,
I am very interested in this reason-cause discussion although I confess I
can't appreciate the full complexity of it.
When I was reading the original example of the reason of
eating (hunger) vs. the cause of fire (lightning) I was wondering where a
good critical realist ontology will get us in terms of levels of
abstraction.  Instead of the question of whether mind is material and
therefore worthy of being nominated as a cause, I was thinking of ways
that hunger might cause eating but only  at one level of abstraction
whereas lightning causes fire at a more immediate level of
abstraction.  In this critical realism can utilize ideas like Locke used
to argue for abstract ideas.
Maurice Mandelbaum (Anatomy of Historical Knowledge) uses the idea of
"scale," so that what will be said (and therefor what is true) in a
statement about "The American Civil War" will necessarily be different
from a statement about the individual actions of General Ulysses E. Grant.
It seems that not only the ontology between realms (transitive,
intransitive) but WITHIN realms will yield just as much fruit.
Any thoughts?
Ian

**********************************************************
Ian Verstegen                  
Department of Art History
Temple University               tel: (215) 204-7837
8th Floor Ritter Hall Annex     fax: (215) 204-6951
Philadelphia, PA 19122          http://astro.temple.edu/~iversteg
**********************************************************




     --- from list bhaskar-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---