The Concept of Causality in the Lvov-Warsaw School : The Legacy of Jan Łukasiewicz

"In 1906, Jan Łukasiewicz, a great logician, published his classic dissertation on the concept of cause, containing not only a thorough reconstruction of the title concept, but also a systematization of the analytical method. It sparked an extremely inspiring discussion among the other representatives of the Lvov-Warsaw School. The main voices of this discussion are supplemented here with texts of contemporary Polish philosophers. They show how the concept of cause is presently functioning in various disciplines and point to the topicality of Łukasiewicz's method of analysis"-- Provided by publisher 121 The Concept of Causality in the Lvov-Warsaw School The Legacy of Jan Łukasiewicz 121 The Concept of Causality in the Lvov-Warsaw School The Legacy of Jan Łukasiewicz Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Contents Notes on Contributors of Part III Preface List of Figures Part 1 Jan Łukasiewicz: Analysis and Construction of the Concept of Cause Analysis and Construction of the Concept of Cause 1 1 Introduction 2 Concepts are Abstract Objects 3 Analysis of Abstract Objects 4 Construction of Abstract Objects 2 5 Correlation of Cause and Effect 6 The Causal Relation Is Not a Relation of Activity 7 The Causal Relation Is Not a Relation of Constant Succession 8 The Casual Relation Is a Necessary Relation 3 9 Properties of the Necessary Relation that Connects a Cause and an Effect 10 Relations of Simple Dependence and the Concept of Necessity 11 The Causal Relation Cannot Be Reduced to a Relation of Reason to Consequence; Efficient and Cognitive Causes 12 The Temporal Relation in the Causal Relation 4 13 The Concept of Complete Cause; A Cause and An Effect Do Not Have to Be Changes 14 What Is a Cause and What Is an Effect 15 Summary of Results 16 Conclusion Bibliography Part 2 Resonance of Łukasiewicz’s “Analysis” in the First Half of the Twentieth Century in Poland Chapter 1 Criticism of the Concept of Causal Connection Bibliography Chapter 2 Causality and Functional Relation. A Study in the Theory of Knowledge 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bibliography Chapter 3 How Did the Problem of Causality Arise? An Outline of Its Development in Ancient Philosophy Introduction 1 2 3 4 Chapter 1: From Thales to Democritus 1 The Older Ionian Physicists: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes (6th Century) 2 Heraclitus and Parmenides (Beginning of the 5th Century) 3 The Younger Physicists: The Atomists (5th Century) 4 End of the Period: Zeno of Elea and Gorgias (End of the 5th Century) Chapter 2: Plato and Aristotle A Plato 1 The Sources of Plato’s Philosophy: The Sophists and Socrates 2 The Sources of Plato’s Philosophy: Cratylus 3 The Sources of Plato’s Philosophy: The Pythagoreans 4 The Relation between Ideas and the Sense-World 5 Matter as the Co-cause of Phenomena 6 The Principle of Determinism B Aristotle 1 Plato and Aristotle 2 Four Kinds of Causes 3 Substance 4 Primary Matter and Pure Form 5 The Principle of Determinism. The Contraposition of Causes Chapter 3: Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism 1 New Philosophical Systems and Their Relation to Their Predecessors 2 Stoicism 3 Epicureanism 4 The Problem of the Freedom of Will 5 The Stoic and Epicurean Concept of Cause 6 The Skeptical Analysis of Causality 7 Conclusion Bibliography Chapter 4 The Problem of Causality in the Neo-scholastics 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bibliography Chapter 5 The Negative Concept of Causality Bibliography Part 3 The Concept of Causality in Poland Many Years Hence Chapter 6 Łukasiewicz on the Analysis of Concepts 1 Introductory Remarks 2 Some Semiotic and Ontological Distinctions 3 What Are Concepts According to Łukasiewicz? 4 Why Is Analysis of Concepts Important for Philosophers? 5 What Are the Components of Concepts and How Can They Be Represented in Ontologically “Neutral” Methodology? 6 Analysis of Concepts 7 Foundation of Analysis 8 Constructive Elements of Analysis 9 Ideal and Real Concepts and Requirements for Satisfactory Analysis 10 Analysis and Local versus Global Methods 11 Closing Remarks Acknowledgement Bibliography Chapter 7 On the Causal Role of Limit Properties in Physics 1 Background 2 Causal Explanations in Classical Mechanics 2.1 The Bathtub Example 3 Self-Causation, Common Causes and the Two-Property View 4 Limit Properties and Grounding 5 Limit Properties as Causes 6 Concluding Remarks Acknowledgments Bibliography Chapter 8 Causality in the Law 1 Introduction 2 Legal Abstractions 3 The Wisdom of the Folk 4 Science Enters the Stage 5 Conclusion Bibliography Chapter 9 Cause and Effect Relationships in Theology 1 Epistemic Ambitions of Theology 2 Distribution of Dogmas 3 Subsystems of Theology 4 The Fulcrum and Lever of Theology 5 Analysis and Construction of the Concept of Cause 6 Cause and Effect in Metaphysics and Apologetics 7 Cause and Effect in Dogmatics 8 Conclusion Bibliography Conclusion: The Problem of Causality 1 The Omnipresence of the Term “Cause” in Life and Science 2 The Awkwardness of the Existing Definitions of “Cause” 3 A Word about Defining 4 Definition of “Cause” 5 Traditional Counterarguments Aimed at the Existence of Cause-Effect Relations 6 Self-Criticism 7 Logical Constants and Necessity 8 Ontic Categories of Objects in the Field of the Relation of Being-Cause-Of 9 Acting-On 10 Motivation 11 Circumstances of Acting-On 12 Change 13 Temporal Relations Connected with the Relationship of Being-Cause-Of 14 Formal Properties of the Relation of Being-Cause-Of 15 Cause and Effect and the Problem of Their Complexity 16 Causal Law 17 The Principle of Causality 18 The Cause-Effect Relation 19 The Perpetrator 20 God-Creator and Creator Bibliography Index of Names