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Strategies for Refuting Closure for Knowledge

Anthony Brueckner

in Essays on Skepticism

This chapter is a reply to Ted Warfield's claim that you cannot refute closure by showing that some necessary condition for knowledge is not closed.

Mathematical Prelude: A Selective Introduction to Logic and Set Theory for Social Scientists

Gary Goertz and James Mahoney

in A Tale of Two Cultures: Qualitative and Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences

This chapter considers some key ideas from logic and set theory as they relate to qualitative research in the social sciences, including ideas concerning necessary and sufficient conditions. It also ... More

This chapter considers some key ideas from logic and set theory as they relate to qualitative research in the social sciences, including ideas concerning necessary and sufficient conditions. It also highlights a major contrast between qualitative and quantitative research: whereas quantitative research draws on mathematical tools associated with statistics and probability theory, qualitative research is often based on set theory and logic. The chapter first compares the natural language of logic in the qualitative culture with the language of probability and statistics in the quantitative culture. It then considers the necessary conditions and sufficient conditions as basis for qualitative methods, focusing on set theory and Venn diagrams, two-by-two tables, and truth tables. It also discusses the use of qualitative and quantitative aggregation techniques and concludes by explaining the criteria for assessing the “fit” of the model or the “importance” of a given causal factor.Less

Complex Causation and Contextualized Capitalisms

Michel Goyer

in Contingent Capital: Short-term Investors and the Evolution of Corporate Governance in France and Germany

The importance of institutions as a critical independent variable has been prominent in social sciences. Scholars working with an institutional perspective rarely advance the notion that only ... More

The importance of institutions as a critical independent variable has been prominent in social sciences. Scholars working with an institutional perspective rarely advance the notion that only institutions matter for outcomes. Institutions are part of a phenomenon of complex causation whereby an outcome results from potentially different combinations of conditions. However, the focus on institutions as part of a process of complex causation working at the level of midrange theory is methodologically sound but obscures an important issue, namely the relative weight of different causal factors. This issue is particularly important since advanced capitalist economies have been responding in different ways to exogenous and endogenous challenges. This chapter illustrates how the institutionally based Varieties of Capitalism perspective provide superior insights for understanding the disparities in the investment allocation of short-term investors in France and Germany as compared to the institutionally based law and economics perspective.Less

Causation, Rights-Violations, and Wrongdoing

Michael Moore

in Placing Blame: A Theory of the Criminal Law

If causing matters to degrees of blameworthiness, as was argued in chapter 5 that it does, then some idea of what causation is needs to be developed. This chapter is preliminary to a later book, ... More

If causing matters to degrees of blameworthiness, as was argued in chapter 5 that it does, then some idea of what causation is needs to be developed. This chapter is preliminary to a later book, Causation and Responsibility, on this topic. The chapter focuses on the discriminating power of the causal relation and on what theories of the causal relation are adequate in light of such apparent power. Sceptical and counterfactual theories are singled out for criticism in this dimension. Theories about the nature of the things related by the causal relation are also subjected to this test of adequacy. The idea that events are the only causal relata is rejected, while the idea that states (but not objects) is accepted. A variety of more promising theories of the causal relation are briefly considered.Less

INTERPOLATION IN MODAL INFINITE SLICE LOGICS CONTAINING THE LOGIC K4

D.M. Gabbay and L. Maksimova

in Interpolation and Definability: Modal and Intuitionistic Logics

This chapter examines the family NE(K) of normal extensions of K4. With any such logic L its reflexive fragment r(L) is associated, which contains the logic S4. A logic L is of infinite slice if ... More

This chapter examines the family NE(K) of normal extensions of K4. With any such logic L its reflexive fragment r(L) is associated, which contains the logic S4. A logic L is of infinite slice if Kripke frames, satisfying L, can contain subchains of any finite length. It is proved that for any logic in NE(K4), being of infinite slice and possessing the interpolation property for deducibility, its reflexive fragment is contained in Grz.2. As a consequence, interpolation theorems fail in logics of infinite slice and of finite width, in logics of finite irreflexive trees, and so on.Less

Necessary Conditions for Democratic Reform

Matt Ryan

in Why Citizen Participation Succeeds or Fails: A Comparative Analysis of Participatory Budgeting

This chapter presents the analysis of necessary conditions and shows that strong claims about finding necessary conditions in PB research have been premature. Nevertheless, there is strong evidence ... More

This chapter presents the analysis of necessary conditions and shows that strong claims about finding necessary conditions in PB research have been premature. Nevertheless, there is strong evidence that political leaders’ commitment to participation is almost always necessary for successes. The chapter discusses alternative calibrations of previous research and offers an assessment of Brian Wampler’s work on Brazilian PB using QCA, before offering an assessment of 30 cases worldwide.Less

‘Whatever Begins to Exist Must Have a Cause of Existence’: Hume's Analysis and Kant's Response

Henry E. Allison

in Custom and Reason in Hume: A Kantian Reading of the First Book of the Treatise

This chapter analyzes Hume's treatment of the principle that every beginning of existence (event) has a cause and Kant's response. It notes that Hume does not challenge the principle itself, but ... More

This chapter analyzes Hume's treatment of the principle that every beginning of existence (event) has a cause and Kant's response. It notes that Hume does not challenge the principle itself, but merely its claim to have a more than empirical grounding. It argues that assuming his theory of ideas, Hume's argument is successful and that the attempt by G. E. M. Anscombe to refute it by rehabilitating an argument of Hobbes fails. It further notes that Kant's response to Hume turns on the claim that the concept or schema of causation is a necessary condition of the very experience from which Hume claims that the principle is derived. Finally, as a result of an examination of what is strictly given in perception, it argues that Hume would have to acknowledge the force of the Kantian claim.Less

Sufficiency and Circularity

Colin McGinn

in Truth by Analysis: Games, Names, and Philosophy

The previous chapter rejected an influential argument from Wittgenstein purporting to show that some concepts lack necessary conditions. It also endorsed an analysis of the concept game that supplies ... More

The previous chapter rejected an influential argument from Wittgenstein purporting to show that some concepts lack necessary conditions. It also endorsed an analysis of the concept game that supplies both necessary and sufficient conditions. This chapter addresses the question of whether some concepts lack sufficient conditions.Less

Pathways to Conflict Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

Marinko Bobić

in Why Minor Powers Risk Wars with Major Powers: A Comparative Study of the Post-Cold War Era

Chapter three provides a medium-N, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) analysis of the empirical record, assessing the outcomes of all 20 militarised interstate disputes that have taken place in ... More

Chapter three provides a medium-N, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) analysis of the empirical record, assessing the outcomes of all 20 militarised interstate disputes that have taken place in the post-Cold War era. QCA is the most proper method given that the focus of this study is on several conditions and their complex relationship. QCA results show that 9 of the 20 cases of asymmetric militarised disputes resulted in war, confirming the importance of this phenomena. Moreover, the analysis reveals that not a single condition is both necessary and sufficient to explain the minor power's choice to go to war. However, the domestic crisis seems to be of particular importance, as it is a necessary condition for the outcome to occur. While this is somewhat expected, more surprising results indicate that domestic crisis is only sufficient when occurring together with a stable regime and either foreign support or window of opportunity. Likewise, regimes with anomalous beliefs tend to ignore the importance of conditions such as foreign support or window of opportunity. Given the limited number of cases, these results can be further strengthened through case studies, that is, process tracing and counterfactual assessment.Less

Grounds of Moral Human Rights

Carl Wellman

in The Moral Dimensions of Human Rights

This chapter explains the grounds of moral human rights. Basal rights are grounded on moral reasons other than some prior right but often ground derived rights. Their grounds are primarily the harms ... More

This chapter explains the grounds of moral human rights. Basal rights are grounded on moral reasons other than some prior right but often ground derived rights. Their grounds are primarily the harms that the individual right-holder normally suffers when they are violated. Thus, they presuppose basic human needs. Secondarily, basal human rights are often grounded on their value to society as a whole. Other moral human rights are indirectly grounded on the same moral reasons because they are derived from some basal human right by subsumption, as a necessary condition for its exercise or enjoyment, or as being conducive to its secure exercise or enjoyment.Less

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions in Tort Law

TONY HONORÉ

in The Philosophical Foundations of Tort Law

Argument about causation inside and outside the law is often concerned with the following question: Must a cause be a necessary condition of a result, a sufficient condition of the result, or a ... More

Argument about causation inside and outside the law is often concerned with the following question: Must a cause be a necessary condition of a result, a sufficient condition of the result, or a necessary element in a set of conditions jointly sufficient to produce the result? This chapter supports the third view, both outside the law and inside it, whenever a sequence of physical events is in issue. A different but related idea can be used to explain reasons for human action, ‘causing’ or inducing people to act rather than causing things to happen. When causal connection must be proved, the law also settles what must be shown to have caused what. Tort law generally imposes fault liability on people who by their wrongful conduct cause harm to others; but sometimes it imposes strict liability on people whose specially dangerous activities, though not wrongful, cause others harm.Less

The Third Analogy: Interaction

Georges Dicker

in Kant's Theory of Knowledge: An Analytical Introduction

This chapter offers a detailed analysis and a critique of Kant’s attempt in the Third Analogy to prove that all substances stand in relations of causal reciprocity. It discusses implications of ... More

This chapter offers a detailed analysis and a critique of Kant’s attempt in the Third Analogy to prove that all substances stand in relations of causal reciprocity. It discusses implications of modern physics for Kant’s argument, and, drawing again on Guyer’s work, reconstructs and evaluates the most plausible version of the argument.Less

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): What It Is, What It Does, and How It Works

Claudius Wagemann

in Methodological Practices in Social Movement Research

In this chapter, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is introduced as a research design which can be a fruitful tool for the (comparative) analysis of social movements. QCA is a case-study ... More

In this chapter, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is introduced as a research design which can be a fruitful tool for the (comparative) analysis of social movements. QCA is a case-study methodology that enables researchers to compare mid-sized numbers of cases in view of sufficiency and necessity set relations. It is especially suitable for the assessment of “if… then” hypotheses. It takes into account complex causal structures, referring to equifinality, conjunctural causation, and asymmetrical causality. With the fuzzy set version, it is also possible to work with those concepts which are dichotomous in nature, but which can then be more finely grained; these kinds of concepts are very typical for the social sciences in general and for social movement research in particular. The contribution also gives some examples for applied QCAs in social movement research.Less

beyond Hume and Wolff

Udo Thiel

in The Early Modern Subject: Self-Consciousness and Personal Identity from Descartes to Hume

The Conclusion outlines the general themes and development that characterize eighteenth-century debates about self-consciousness and personal identity after Hume, Wolff and his followers and critics ... More

The Conclusion outlines the general themes and development that characterize eighteenth-century debates about self-consciousness and personal identity after Hume, Wolff and his followers and critics (the details will be dealt with in a sequel to this volume, entitled The Enlightened Subject). There is a rich variety of views and arguments, but four thematic groups can be identified. First, from the 1740s to the 1770s the notion of feeling becomes prominent (Condillac, Rousseau), emphasizing the immediacy by which we relate to our own self and personal identity. Second, there are attempts by materialist philosophers to deal with these issues– mainly thinkers of the 1770s and 1780s, including for example Joseph Priestley. Third, there is the Scottish School of Common Sense, most importantly Thomas Reid and Dugald Stewart in the 1780s and 90s - here, personal identity is thought of as a necessary condition of thought and action. Fourth, there is Kant and the debates about Kant at the end of the century - with thinkers such as Karl Leonhard Reinhold whose contributions can help to illuminate and critically evaluate the Kantian as well as the earlier approaches to the issues of self-consciousness and personal identity.Less

Setting the Stage

Henry E. Allison

in Kant's Transcendental Deduction: An Analytical-Historical Commentary

This chapter is concerned with two main topics: an analysis of “On the Clue to the Discovery of All Pure Concepts of the Understanding,” which Kant referred to in the second edition as the ... More

This chapter is concerned with two main topics: an analysis of “On the Clue to the Discovery of All Pure Concepts of the Understanding,” which Kant referred to in the second edition as the “Metaphysical Deduction,” and the first section of the Transcendental Deduction, which Kant retained with some modifications in the second edition. The former deals with the derivation of the table of the categories from the table of the logical functions of judgment; the latter contains Kant’s account of the nature and importance of a transcendental deduction, the peculiar difficulty of one of the categories, as contrasted with space and time, and the strategy of such a deduction, which consists in demonstrating that the categories are necessary conditions of the possibility of experience.Less

Population Cycles Inferences from Experimental, Modeling, and Time Series Approaches

Xavier Lambin and Charles J. Krebs

in Population Cycles: The Case for Trophic Interactions

Some of the most interesting debates in population ecology have taken place within the context of population cycles. Their study has been a fertile ground for the development of ideas on how ... More

Some of the most interesting debates in population ecology have taken place within the context of population cycles. Their study has been a fertile ground for the development of ideas on how population models should be formulated and confronted with data. It is the setting in which the use of field experiments became established in ecology (e.g., Krebs and De Long 1965), and also the context of many methodological and conceptual developments in the fields of population demography (Leslie and Ranson 1940), pest management (Berryman 1982), and community dynamics (Sinclair et al. 2000). Yet, as with many other issues in population dynamics, identifying without ambiguity the causes of population cycles in general, and for any organism in particular, continues to prove an extraordinarily difficult task. The major purpose of this book is to review recent research developments on the role of food web architecture, and more specifically on the effects of food, predators, and pathogens in population cycles. Its stated aim is to present evidence that population cycles could be caused by food web architecture in some natural systems. Whereas in chapter 1 Alan Berryman promotes a research program centered on the analysis of time series data for formulating, selecting, and even testing hypotheses on population cycles, the case studies encompass a much broader diversity of research approaches. The authors and coworkers of the seven case studies have combined time series analysis, model building, natural history observation, and experiments in different proportions to reach the conclusion that trophic interactions play an important role in generating cyclic dynamics. This diversity of approaches reflects, in part, a taxonomic divide between vertebrates and invertebrates, experiments being more common with the former, but also profound differences in research traditions. Indeed, the investment required to estimate population size and quantify the causes of mortality of moths and beetles is substantially less than that required for estimating the abundance of voles, hares, and grouse and their predators. From these practical constraints, divergent research traditions have evolved. Less

Second-Order Conditions

John E. Prussing

in Optimal Spacecraft Trajectories

Second-order conditions for both parameter optimization problems and optimal control problems are analysed. A new conjugate point test procedure is discussed and illustrated. For an optimal control ... More

Second-order conditions for both parameter optimization problems and optimal control problems are analysed. A new conjugate point test procedure is discussed and illustrated. For an optimal control problem we will examine the second variation of the cost. The first variation subject to constraints provides first-order NC for a minimum of J. Second-order conditions provide SC a minimum.Less

What Would a Justified Preventive Military Attack Look Like?*

Henry Shue

in Fighting Hurt: Rule and Exception in Torture and War

After some necessary conditions for a justified preventive military attack have been detailed, one can judge how likely the conjunction of them all is. The first requirement is that the attack must ... More

After some necessary conditions for a justified preventive military attack have been detailed, one can judge how likely the conjunction of them all is. The first requirement is that the attack must be limited to the elimination of the danger that justifies it. The second is that military action must be urgent. The third is that the assessment of urgency must be based on well-verified, solid intelligence collected by a highly competent agency (unlike CIA). Fourth, the attack must be substantively multilateral in the sense of based on principles justifiable on the basis of reasons broadly acceptable internationally. As suggested by Allen Buchanan and Robert Keohane, an institution for the systematic and impartial review of any proposed preventive war is needed.Less