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Causation in Physics: Causal Processes and Mathematical Derivations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Nanc Cartwright
Nanc Cartwright*
Affiliation:
Stanford University
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Extract

Physics is, above all else, mathematical. But its causal stories can be told in words. How then does mathematics bear on causal claims in physics? I want to make some very simple philosophical points about derivations, mathematical dependencies, and causal relations in physics. I am going to focus on the question, “How does mathematics provide theoretical support for physics’ causal claims?” Theoretical support is only one among a variety of kinds of support that a causal claim may have, but-I am not going to discuss how to balance these various kinds of support. Instead I will concentrate entirely on theoretical support and lay out some necessary conditions for the ideal case.’ Although the points I will make are not very involved philosophically, I will flesh them in with a very detailed example concerning gas lasers.

Type
Part X. Causation in Physics and Biology
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1984 , Issue 2: Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers 1984 , 1984 , pp. 390 - 404
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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