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List of contents
- 1: Introduction
- 2: Taking Apart the World
- 3: Causal Influence
- 4: Causal Power
- 5: Putting Things Together: The Assumptions of Reduction
- 6: Macroscopic Power and Influence
- 7: Laws of Nature
- 8: Causation
- 9: Causal Models
- 10: Emergence and the Failure of Reduction
- 11: Influentialism: A New Type of Moral Theory?
About the author
Richard Corry is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Tasmania. His main area of research is the metaphysics of science, particularly the place of time and causation in modern physics. He is also interested in exploring what philosophy of science can contribute to real-world issues, such as the public debate around climate change. He is editor, with Huw Price, of Causation, Physics, and the Constitution of Reality (Oxford 2007), and author, with David Coady, of The Climate Change Debate: An Epistemic and Ethical Enquiry (Palgrave 2013). He has also published articles on the philosophy of mind and the ethics of consumer responsibility.
Summary
Corry examines the metaphysical presuppositions in the reductive method of explanation. He argues that it makes assumptions about the nature of causal power and causal influence, he outlines implications for traditional philosophical problems, and he presents an integrated metaphysical worldview grounded in the nature of power and influence.
Additional text
Power and Influence: The Metaphysics of Reductive Explanation is a well-developed approach to an important topic, and provides many important considerations not only for those interested in reduction, powers, and metaphysical explanation, but also for those working in the areas of causation and emergence to which Corry applies his framework.
