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Is the appropriate form of human action explanation causal or rather teleological? While this is a central question in analytic philosophy of action, it also has implications for questions about the differences between methods of explanation in the sciences on the one hand and in the humanities and the social sciences on the other. Additionally, this question bears on the problem of the appropriate form of explanations of past human actions, and therefore it is prominently discussed by analytic philosophers of historiography. This volume brings together causalists and anti-causalists to address enduring philosophical questions at the heart of this debate, as well as their implications for the practice of historiography. Part I considers the quarrel between causalism and anti-causalism in recent developments in the philosophy of action. Part II presents papers by causalists and anti-causalists that are more narrowly focused on the philosophy of historiography.
List of contents
1. Introduction
Gunnar Schumann
Part I: Causal vs. Teleological Explanation of Action
2. Causalism: On Action Explanation and Causal Deviance
Alfred Mele
3. Why and How? Teleological and Causal Concepts in Action Explanation
George F. Schueler
4. Rationalizing Principles and Causal Explanation
Guido Löhrer and Scott R. Sehon
5. On an Imaginary Dialogue Between a Causalist and an Anti-causalist
Giuseppina D’Oro
6. Reasons, Causes, Desires, and Dispositions
Severin Schroeder
7. Objectivism and Causalism about Reasons for Action
Hans-Johann Glock and Eva Schmidt
8. Are Reasons Like Shampoo?
Constanine Sandis
Part II: Causal vs. Teleological Explanation in Historiography
9. Counterfactual Causality and Historical Explanations
Doris Gerber
10. Beyond Causalism and Acausalism
Harold Kincaid
11. Two Methods in History
Thomas Keutner
12. An Anti-causal Theory of Action as Basis for Historical Explanations. A Sketch
Gunnar Schumann
13. Meanings and Mechanisms: An Actor-centered Approach to Historical Explanation
Daniel Little
14. The Origins of Historiographic Causation
Aviezer Tucker
About the author
Gunnar Schumann is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany
Summary
Is the appropriate form of human action explanation causal or rather teleological? This volume brings together causalists and anti-causalists to address enduring philosophical questions at the heart of this debate, as well as their implications for the practice of historiography.
