Hume: causal theory of freedom and indeterminism

Although Hume seems to suppose that natural processes occur in a deterministic way, his conception of causality prohibits us from knowing them as deterministic. The reason is that for him the idea of a necessary connection between events is purely psychological. In our analysis of this question, we...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Pereira Júnior, Alfredo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:1993
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Trans/Form/Ação (Online)
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.www2.marilia.unesp.br:article/12369
Acceso en línea:https://revistas.marilia.unesp.br/index.php/transformacao/article/view/12369
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Indeterminismo
Causalidade
Liberdade
Necessidade
Acaso
Indeterminism
causality
Freedom
Necessity
Chance
Descripción
Sumario:Although Hume seems to suppose that natural processes occur in a deterministic way, his conception of causality prohibits us from knowing them as deterministic. The reason is that for him the idea of a necessary connection between events is purely psychological. In our analysis of this question, we argue that: a) in his main references about causality, Hume does not assume a strong ontological commitment with determinism; b) certain parts of his texts suggest that indeterminism is non eliminable, in the knowledge of nature; and c) his causal conception of freedom supposes indeterminism in natural processes, and not in our knowledge of them only.