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26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 7. Eliminating causation

[scepticism about the whole idea of causation]

18 ideas
There are no causes, because they are relative, and alike things can't cause one another [Pyrrho, by Diog. Laertius]
If there were no causes then everything would have been randomly produced by everything [Sext.Empiricus]
Knowing an effect results from a cause means knowing that the cause belongs with the effect, which is circular [Sext.Empiricus]
Cause can't exist before effect, or exist at the same time, so it doesn't exist [Sext.Empiricus]
Hume never even suggests that there is no such thing as causation [Hume, by Strawson,G]
The search for first or final causes is futile [Comte]
Science has taken the meaning out of causation; cause and effect are two equal sides of an equation [Nietzsche]
The law of causality is a source of confusion, and should be dropped from philosophy [Russell]
If causes are contiguous with events, only the last bit is relevant, or the event's timing is baffling [Russell]
Moments and points seem to imply other moments and points, but don't cause them [Russell]
We can drop 'cause', and just make inferences between facts [Russell]
We should analyse causation in terms of powers [Molnar]
A mind that could see cause and effect as a continuum would deny cause and effect [Richardson]
Maybe scientific causation is just generalisation about the patterns [Hawthorne]
The Uncertainty Principle implies that cause and effect can't be measured [Watson]
Causation is utterly essential for numerous philosophical explanations [Schaffer,J]
The notion of causation allows understanding of science, without appearing in equations [Schaffer,J]
Causation is found in the special sciences, but may have no role in fundamental physics [Ladyman/Ross]