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Chapter 3 - Aristotle on How Efficient Causation Works

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2025

Tyler Huismann
Tyler Huismann
Affiliation:
University of Oklahoma
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Summary

In this chapter, I argue that, in light of his critique of rival theories of efficient causation, there is a puzzle latent in Aristotle’s own account. According to that critique, efficient causes must explain why their effects come about when they do rather than at some other time, a feature I call temporal contrastiveness. But it is not clear how the various elements of one of Aristotle’s preferred examples of such causation, the activity of experts, can enjoy this feature. Solving the puzzle yields a novel reading of Aristotle, one according to which expert skills genuinely change in the course of their exercise.

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Aristotle on Accidental Causation , pp. 71 - 93
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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