Notes for 3/2/2026

  

3/2/2026

[Philosophy Club every Monday, 4-5 pm, in the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences room 436 ("The Cave")]

[Bioethics Club: Mondays from 5:30pm-6:30pm in Leigh Hall 408]

 

What’s an example of a dumb thing to do?

(Bonus if it’s something you’ve actually done.)

 

There are two basic types of reasoning: Deductive and inductive.

 

 

Deductive reasoning is based on logical relations that make “perfect inferences” possible. An inference connects the premises of an argument to a conclusion (The conclusion is inferred from the premises). In a deductive inference, IF the premises are true, the conclusion MUST also be true (purely as a function of how logic works).

 

Example:

 

1. Maureen plays Bridge every Tuesday.

2. Today is Tuesday.

3. Maureen plays Bridge today.

 

 

Inductive reasoning: In an inductive inference, if the premises are true, the conclusion is PROBABLY true.

 

Example:

1. Maureen has played Bridge every Tuesday for the past 20 years.

2. Today is Tuesday.

3. Maureen will play Bridge today.

 

 

 

Basic rule of inductive inference is: The future will continue to resemble the past.

 

 

 

 

David Hume (1711-1776)

Empiricism: All knowledge derived from experience.

 

 

Divided knowledge into:

1.   Relations of ideas

2.   Matters of fact

 

 

Relations of ideas are known to be true by definition or analysis (analytic truths/statements)(a priori truths)

-    All vixens are female.

-    All triangles have three sides.

-    Anyone born in Nebraska is a US citizen.

 

 

Matters of fact are only known to be true by experience (synthetic truths/statements)(a posteriori truths)

-    Some bananas are purple.

-    My son has blue eyes.

-    Triceratopses are extinct.

-    Water freezes at 0 degrees C.

 

 

What is the status of the following two claims?

(1) Every event must have a cause. (Universal causation.)

(2) The same causes must always produce the same effects. (Causal uniformity.)

 

 

What, exactly, is causation?

How, exactly, does causation work?

 

Causation is a relational concept: Nothing is a cause except insofar as it relates to an effect. Nothing is an effect except insofar as it relates to a cause.

 

Is every event necessarily either a cause or an effect?

 

Neither of these are true by definition or analysis – they are not analytic truths.

 

So, they must be synthetic truths – known by experience.

 

But what, exactly, do we experience?

 

Suppose I light one candle.

 

 

1. This candle burns when lit.

2. Therefore, all candles will burn when lit.

 

I cross my fingers before scratching off a lottery ticket.

 

 

1. I won money after crossing my fingers.

2. Therefore, I will always win money after crossing my fingers.

 

Why is my inference good with candles, but not with scratch off tickets?

 

 

That is, some things happen in the world as a result of what we call laws of nature while others are just happenstance.

Correlation is not always causation.

Coincidence is not causation.

 

There is a difference between science and superstition. (The former is grounded in causation, the latter in coincidence (or fear).)

 

 

But how do we know/think the difference?

 

What, exactly, is a cause?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cause-effect idea:

-    Spatial & temporal proximity (cause & effect are close together in space and time)

-    Temporal asymmetry of cause-effect (causes always come before effects)

-    *Necessary connection (causes and effects are necessarily connected)

 

 

 

 

Hume suggests the following argument:

1. Laws of nature are not analytic truths. (relations of ideas)

2. But necessary truths can only be analytic.

3. Therefore, laws of nature are not necessary truths.

 

 

 

 

Hume says the connection between cause and effect is not logically necessary.

 

It is always possible to conceive/imagine any two causally connected events occurring separately.

 

 

If some event is conceivable without contradiction, then it is possible.