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In papers published in the 25 years following his famous 1964 proof John Bell refined and reformulated his views on locality and causality. Although his formulations of local causality were in terms of probability, he had little to say about that notion. But assumptions about probability are implicit in his arguments and conclusions. Probability does not conform to these assumptions when quantum mechanics is applied to account for the particular correlations Bell argues are locally inexplicable. This account involves no superluminal action and there is even a sense in which it is local, but it is in tension with the requirement that the direct causes and effects of events are nearby.

We present a sequent calculus system for a modal reformulation of a system of nonmonotonic logic due to McCain and Turner: we prove cut elimination for our system. The proof system is in general infinitary: because we can prove cut elimination, many applications need, in practice, only the application of finitary rules. Consequently, nonmonotonic logic is, in many cases, much less scary than it might seem to be a priori. We derive from this a critique of Fodor's philosophical worries about the nonmonotonicity of human reasoning.

Brings together 26 of Salmon's essays, including 7 that have never before been published and others that are difficult to find. Part I (Introductory Essays: Causality, Determinism, and Explanation) comprises five essays that presuppose no formal training in philosophy of science and form a background for subsequent essays. Parts II (Scientific Explanation) and III (Causality) contain Salmon's seminal work on these topics. The essays in Part II present aspects of the evolution of the author's thought about scientific explanation, and include critical examination of the claim that explanations are arguments and a carefully reasoned defense of explanatory asymmetry. Those in Part III develop the details of the theory sketched in Ch. 1. This theory identifies causal connections with physical processes that transmit causal influence from one space-time location to another, and it incorporates probabilistic features of causality, keeping open the possibility that causality operates in indeterministic contexts. Part IV (Concise Overviews) offers survey articles that discuss advanced material but remain accessible to those outside philosophy of science. Essays in Part V (Applications to Other Disciplines: Archaeology and Anthropology, Astrophysics and Cosmology, and Physics) address specific issues, in particular, scientific disciplines, including the applicability of various models of explanation.  Preface  Having worked actively on scientific explanation for more than thirty years, I recently discovered that it is a sexy topic. I use the term “sexy” in its nonsexual sense. What I mean is that a huge federally funded project involving billions of dollars was defended on philosophical grounds, namely, that by aiding scientists in explaining natural phenomena, it would lead to deeper understanding of our universe. 

Majid D Beni Scientific Explanation, Causality, and Agency: A Free Energy Account https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003463122/scientific-explanation-causality-agency-majid-beni This book draws on advances in computational neuroscience and theoretical biology to provide a clear and accessible agentive account of the nature of causality and scientific explanations. Instead of attempting to establish the elements of scientific explanation, such as causality, in a reality unadulterated by a human perspective, this book relies on scientific facts about cognition to describe the structure of agency from a distinctly human perspective. The book draws on the Free Energy Principle to reinforce the agency theory of causality and extend it to an account of explanation as well. This principle not only provides a theoretical account of how self-organising systems engage with the causal structure of the environment, but it also offers a viable notion of agency and is compatible with the projectivist aspects of the agency theory. Scientific Explanation, Causality, and Agency will appeal to researchers and advanced students working in philosophy of science, philosophy of cognitive science, epistemology, computational neuroscience, and theoretical biology. Active Inference Institute information: Website: https://www.activeinference.institute/ Activities: https://activities.activeinference.institute/ Discord: https://discord.activeinference.institute/ Donate: http://donate.activeinference.institute/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ActiveInference/ X: https://x.com/InferenceActive Active Inference Livestreams: https://video.activeinference.institute/

VOLUME TWO  Part I. Classical Science: Philosophy and Methodology  CHAPTER 1. The Philosophers of Classical Science  3  i. Rene Descartes  5  2. Thomas Hobbes  3. John Locke  4. George Berkeley  5. David Hume  a. The Notion of Causation b. Thomas Reid's Critique 6. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz  7. Immanuel Kant  a. Early Writings b. Critical Period c. Metaphysical Foundations  17 22 30 38 40 44 51 60 62 64 70  CHAPTER 2. The Methodologists of Classical  L Francis Bacon  2. Auguste Comte  Science 76 77 86 96  3. John F. W. Herschel  a. General Methodology  g8  x  Contents  b. Applications and Examples  4. William Whewell  5. John Stuart Mill  6. Claude Bernard  7. Recapitulation  110 118 128 141 154  Part II. Contemporary Science  CHAPTER 3. The Changing Status of Causality  163  1. The Decline and Fall of Causality  165  a. Probability vs. Certainty  166  b. Phenomenalism and Conventionalism  168  c. Logical Positivism  180  d. Operationalism and the Copenhagen School 187  2. The Concern With Explanation  197  a. Theories as Explanations  198  b. The Covering-Law Model  202  c. Answers to the Question "Why?''  206  3. The Anti-Humean Turn  217  a. Process and Metaphysics  218  · b. Beyond Phenomenalism  222  c. The Return to Realism  228  CHAPTER 4. The Varieties of Causal Explanation 238 1. Preclassical Themes  243  a. Types of Explanation  244  b. Causal Definitions  249  2. Classical Themes  254  a. Causal Reasoning  255  b. Mechanisms and Models  257  3. Contemporary Themes  264  a. Causal Theories  265  b. Causal Laws  271  CHAPTER 5. Causality in Contemporary Science  277  1. The Physical Sciences  283  a. Relativity Theories  283  b. Quantum Theories  297  Contents 2. The Life and Social Sciences  xi  a. Evolution b. Hu man Behavior 

VOLUME TWO  Part I. Classical Science: Philosophy and Methodology  CHAPTER 1. The Philosophers of Classical Science  3  i. Rene Descartes  5  2. Thomas Hobbes  3. John Locke  4. George Berkeley  5. David Hume  a. The Notion of Causation b. Thomas Reid's Critique 6. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz  7. Immanuel Kant  a. Early Writings b. Critical Period c. Metaphysical Foundations  17 22 30 38 40 44 51 60 62 64 70  CHAPTER 2. The Methodologists of Classical  L Francis Bacon  2. Auguste Comte  Science 76 77 86 96  3. John F. W. Herschel  a. General Methodology  g8  x  Contents  b. Applications and Examples  4. William Whewell  5. John Stuart Mill  6. Claude Bernard  7. Recapitulation  110 118 128 141 154  Part II. Contemporary Science  CHAPTER 3. The Changing Status of Causality  163  1. The Decline and Fall of Causality  165  a. Probability vs. Certainty  166  b. Phenomenalism and Conventionalism  168  c. Logical Positivism  180  d. Operationalism and the Copenhagen School 187  2. The Concern With Explanation  197  a. Theories as Explanations  198  b. The Covering-Law Model  202  c. Answers to the Question "Why?''  206  3. The Anti-Humean Turn  217  a. Process and Metaphysics  218  · b. Beyond Phenomenalism  222  c. The Return to Realism  228  CHAPTER 4. The Varieties of Causal Explanation 238 1. Preclassical Themes  243  a. Types of Explanation  244  b. Causal Definitions  249  2. Classical Themes  254  a. Causal Reasoning  255  b. Mechanisms and Models  257  3. Contemporary Themes  264  a. Causal Theories  265  b. Causal Laws  271  CHAPTER 5. Causality in Contemporary Science  277  1. The Physical Sciences  283  a. Relativity Theories  283  b. Quantum Theories  297  Contents 2. The Life and Social Sciences  xi  a. Evolution b. Hu man Behavior 

VOLUME TWO  Part I. Classical Science: Philosophy and Methodology  CHAPTER 1. The Philosophers of Classical Science  3  i. Rene Descartes  5  2. Thomas Hobbes  3. John Locke  4. George Berkeley  5. David Hume  a. The Notion of Causation b. Thomas Reid's Critique 6. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz  7. Immanuel Kant  a. Early Writings b. Critical Period c. Metaphysical Foundations  17 22 30 38 40 44 51 60 62 64 70  CHAPTER 2. The Methodologists of Classical  L Francis Bacon  2. Auguste Comte  Science 76 77 86 96  3. John F. W. Herschel  a. General Methodology  g8  x  Contents  b. Applications and Examples  4. William Whewell  5. John Stuart Mill  6. Claude Bernard  7. Recapitulation  110 118 128 141 154  Part II. Contemporary Science  CHAPTER 3. The Changing Status of Causality  163  1. The Decline and Fall of Causality  165  a. Probability vs. Certainty  166  b. Phenomenalism and Conventionalism  168  c. Logical Positivism  180  d. Operationalism and the Copenhagen School 187  2. The Concern With Explanation  197  a. Theories as Explanations  198  b. The Covering-Law Model  202  c. Answers to the Question "Why?''  206  3. The Anti-Humean Turn  217  a. Process and Metaphysics  218  · b. Beyond Phenomenalism  222  c. The Return to Realism  228  CHAPTER 4. The Varieties of Causal Explanation 238 1. Preclassical Themes  243  a. Types of Explanation  244  b. Causal Definitions  249  2. Classical Themes  254  a. Causal Reasoning  255  b. Mechanisms and Models  257  3. Contemporary Themes  264  a. Causal Theories  265  b. Causal Laws  271  CHAPTER 5. Causality in Contemporary Science  277  1. The Physical Sciences  283  a. Relativity Theories  283  b. Quantum Theories  297  Contents 2. The Life and Social Sciences  xi  a. Evolution b. Hu man Behavior 

VOLUME TWO  Part I. Classical Science: Philosophy and Methodology  CHAPTER 1. The Philosophers of Classical Science  3  i. Rene Descartes  5  2. Thomas Hobbes  3. John Locke  4. George Berkeley  5. David Hume  a. The Notion of Causation b. Thomas Reid's Critique 6. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz  7. Immanuel Kant  a. Early Writings b. Critical Period c. Metaphysical Foundations  17 22 30 38 40 44 51 60 62 64 70  CHAPTER 2. The Methodologists of Classical  L Francis Bacon  2. Auguste Comte  Science 76 77 86 96  3. John F. W. Herschel  a. General Methodology  g8  x  Contents  b. Applications and Examples  4. William Whewell  5. John Stuart Mill  6. Claude Bernard  7. Recapitulation  110 118 128 141 154  Part II. Contemporary Science  CHAPTER 3. The Changing Status of Causality  163  1. The Decline and Fall of Causality  165  a. Probability vs. Certainty  166  b. Phenomenalism and Conventionalism  168  c. Logical Positivism  180  d. Operationalism and the Copenhagen School 187  2. The Concern With Explanation  197  a. Theories as Explanations  198  b. The Covering-Law Model  202  c. Answers to the Question "Why?''  206  3. The Anti-Humean Turn  217  a. Process and Metaphysics  218  · b. Beyond Phenomenalism  222  c. The Return to Realism  228  CHAPTER 4. The Varieties of Causal Explanation 238 1. Preclassical Themes  243  a. Types of Explanation  244  b. Causal Definitions  249  2. Classical Themes  254  a. Causal Reasoning  255  b. Mechanisms and Models  257  3. Contemporary Themes  264  a. Causal Theories  265  b. Causal Laws  271  CHAPTER 5. Causality in Contemporary Science  277  1. The Physical Sciences  283  a. Relativity Theories  283  b. Quantum Theories  297  Contents 2. The Life and Social Sciences  xi  a. Evolution b. Hu man Behavior 

A substantial amount of research has been and is being conducted on attrition. The time has come to be more rigorous in the conceptualization and terminology used in this research. The term 'attrition' for example has been loosely used. The author suggests a basic generic definition which distinguishes it from terms like premature separation. Similarly, 'cause of attrition' has been used to describe certain demographic variables which only explain variance and to describe reasons for separation which only represent marks on documents or question responses. The amounts and rates of attrition are aggregate variables. Causal analysis requires these aggregate variables to be investigated within smaller, more meaningful personnel groupings. The author suggests that proper causal analysis and the development of successful counter-attrition programs and procedures require investigations at the individual, organizational, and manpower levels.