Causal Necessity: Pragmatic Investigation of the Necessity of Laws

Title Page......Page 1
Copyright......Page 2
Contents......Page 5
Preface......Page 7
Introduction......Page 9
PART I: Laws......Page 11
IA: Propensities and Statistical Laws......Page 15
IB: Universal Laws as Limiting Cases of Statistical Laws......Page 45
IC: Generalizations......Page 83
PART II: The Pragmatics of Laws......Page 91
IIA: Conditionals......Page 93
IIB: Cause and Effect......Page 113
IIC: The Role of Causal Factors in Rational Decision......Page 138
IID: Scientific Explanation......Page 150
IIE: Knowledge......Page 156
IIF*: Resiliency and Rules of Acceptance......Page 162
Appendix 1: Probability Refresher......Page 165
Appendix 2: Second-Order Probabilities and Fallible Learning......Page 172
Appendix 3: Iterated Probability Conditionals and Lewis's Triviality Proof......Page 179
Appendix 4: Nonstandard Analysis and Infinitesimal Probabilities......Page 187
Selected Bibliography......Page 199
Index......Page 213