Ideas from 'Essays on Active Powers 1: Active power' by Thomas Reid [1788], by Theme Structure
[found in 'Inquiry and Essays' by Reid,Thomas (ed/tr Beanblossom /K.Lehrer) [Hackett 1983,0-915145-85-5]].
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8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 2. Powers as Basic
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Powers are quite distinct and simple, and so cannot be defined
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Thinkers say that matter has intrinsic powers, but is also passive and acted upon
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8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 3. Powers as Derived
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It is obvious that there could not be a power without a subject which possesses it
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15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 1. Consciousness / e. Cause of consciousness
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Consciousness is the power of mind to know itself, and minds are grounded in powers
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16. Persons / F. Free Will / 4. For Free Will
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Our own nature attributes free determinations to our own will
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20. Action / B. Preliminaries of Action / 2. Willed Action / c. Agent causation
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Reid said that agent causation is a unique type of causation [Stout,R]
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26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / a. Constant conjunction
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Day and night are constantly conjoined, but they don't cause one another [Crane]
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26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / d. Causal necessity
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Regular events don't imply a cause, without an innate conviction of universal causation
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26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 1. Laws of Nature
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Scientists don't know the cause of magnetism, and only discover its regulations
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Laws are rules for effects, but these need a cause; rules of navigation don't navigate
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