This article examines definitions of cause in the epidemiological literature. Those definitions describe causes as factors that make a difference to the distribution of disease or to individual health status. In philosophical terms, they are "difference-makers." I argue that those definitions are underpinned by an epistemology and a methodology that hinge upon the notion of variation, contra th...

Being an essentially multi-disciplinary field, Information Systems does not appear to be informed by a single dominant underlying philosophy. Since IT is an integral part of IS, its philosophical roots are associated with logical positivism. While logical positivism has several merits, its proponents have been unable to respond to criticisms leveled by the Humean Skeptics. Logical empiricism to...

Abstract Can the desire for efficiently systematised theories in science be explained from within a powers metaphysics? It is plausible that traditional ‘Powers Theory of Laws’, endorsed by many friends powers, does not alone provide such an explanation. This has led number recent authors to argue Best System Account’ laws would preferable alternative. account borrows method determining Humean ...

Purpose: Authors of this theoretical article are questioning Hume's view on causality by arguing for Aristotle’s pluralistic as an alternative strategy social work research and practice. Methods: Aristotle's notion is applied to discuss its relevance, then tested a real case, thereby illustrating how it can contribute explain why something works. Results: Different types causes reveal character...

Nomological Humeanism has developed into a research program encompassing several variations on single theme, namely, the view that laws are statements about regularities we find in nature. After briefly revisiting an early form of nomological Hume’s critique idea necessary connection, this article critically examines Lewis’ two-fold approach based Humean supervenience and best system account. W...

In this paper, I propose a variant of a Humean account of laws called "Open Future Humeanism" (OFH), which holds that since the laws supervene partly on future events, there are at any instant infinitely many possible future courses of events. I argue that if one wants to take the openness of the future that OFH proposes ontologically serious, then OFH is best represented within a growing block...

The ‘Principal Principle’ states, roughly, that one’s subjective probability for a proposition should conform to one’s beliefs about that proposition’s objective chance of coming true. David Lewis has argued (i) that this principle provides the defining role for chance; (ii) that it conflicts with his reductionist thesis of Humean supervenience, and so must be replaced by an amended version tha...

If any of the learned be inclined, from their natural temper, to haughtiness or obstinacy, a small tincture of Pyrrhonism might abate their pride, by showing them, that the few advantages, which they may have attained over their fellows, are but inconsiderable, if compared with the universal perplexity and confusion, which is inherent in human nature. (David Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Un...

Abstract It seems to be a platitude that there must close connection between causality and the laws of nature: somehow cover in general what happens each specific case causation. But so-called singularists disagree, it is often thought locus classicus for kind dissent Anscombe's famous Causality & Determination . Moreover, rejection determinism premised on singularism. In this paper, I show...