•  20
    Causal modeling in multilevel settings: A new proposal
    Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. forthcoming.
    An important question for the causal modeling approach is how to integrate non‐causal dependence relations such as asymmetric supervenience into the approach. The most prominent proposal to that effect (due to Gebharter) is to treat those dependence relationships as formally analogous to causal relationships. We argue that this proposal neglects some crucial differences between causal and non‐causal dependencies, and that in the context of causal modeling non‐causal dependence relationships shou…Read more
  •  4
    Let us assume that human behavior is subject to laws of nature. These are either deterministic or indeterministic. Prima facie in both cases our behavior appears to be excused. For it seems as if, in the case of deterministic laws, we cannot behave differently than we actually do. In the case of indeterministic laws, it seems as if we are not the originators of this behavior, because how we behave depends on chance. There is a tension between the scientific characterization of the world on the o…Read more
  •  66
    The Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole: How Good a Case Is It?: A Challenge for Astrophysics & Philosophy of Science
    with Andreas Eckart, Claus Kiefer, Silke Britzen, Michal Zajaček, Claus Lämmerzahl, Manfred Stöckler, Monica Valencia-S., Vladimir Karas, and Macarena García-Marín
    Foundations of Physics 47 (5): 553-624. 2017.
    The compact and, with \ M\, very massive object located at the center of the Milky Way is currently the very best candidate for a supermassive black hole in our immediate vicinity. The strongest evidence for this is provided by measurements of stellar orbits, variable X-ray emission, and strongly variable polarized near-infrared emission from the location of the radio source Sagittarius A* in the middle of the central stellar cluster. Simultaneous near-infrared and X-ray observations of SgrA* ha…Read more
  •  44
    Causal Bayes nets (CBNs) provide one of the most powerful tools for modelling coarse-grained type-level causal structure. As in other fields (e.g., thermodynamics) the question arises how such coarse-grained characterisations are related to the characterisation of their underlying structure (in this case: token-level causal relations). Answering this question meets what is called a “coherence-requirement” in the reduction debate: How are different accounts of one and the same system (or kind of …Read more
  •  89
    Die Grundlegung der Cartesischen Physik in den Meditationen
    In Rene Descartes: Meditationen über die erste Philosophie, 2. Auflage, De Gruyter. pp. 167-186. 2019.
    The paper discusses in what sense Descartes' Meditations contain the foundation of his physics.
  •  330
    Determinismus - eine empirische These
    Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 76 (4): 479-509. 2022.
    In some German-language contributions to the debate on free will, it is assumed or claimed that determinism is not an empirically verifiable thesis. Peter Bieri, for example, thinks that one must presuppose determinism in order to understand the world as a conceivable world. Determinism would then not be an empirical thesis, but rather a condition without which the conceivability of the world cannot be thought (Bieri 2001, 15/16). Geert Keil writes that determinism "can neither be verified nor f…Read more
  •  139
    The paper explores the relation of the concepts of an exemplar and that of a law of nature.
  •  387
    Physicalism decomposed
    Analysis 65 (1): 33-39. 2005.
    In this paper we distinguish two issues that are often run together in discussions about physicalism. The first issue concerns levels. How do entities picked out by non-physical terminology, such as biological or psychological terminology, relate to physical entities? Are the former identical to, or metaphysically supervenient on, the latter? The second issue concerns physical parts and wholes. How do macroscopic physical entities relate to their microscopic parts? Are the former generally deter…Read more
  •  19
    Third Conference of the GWP
    Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 53 (1): 1-3. 2022.
  •  203
    Are we free to make the laws?
    Synthese 200 (1): 1-16. 2022.
    Humeans about laws maintain that laws of nature are nothing over and above the complete distribution of non-modal, categorical properties in spacetime. ‘Humean compatibilists’ argue that if Humeanism about laws is true, then agents in a deterministic world can do otherwise than they are lawfully determined to do because of the distinctive nature of Humean laws. More specifically, they reject a central premise of the Consequence argument by maintaining that deterministic laws of nature are ‘up to…Read more
  •  183
    Heinrich Hertz and the Concept of a Symbol
    In Massimo Ferrari & Ion-Olympiu Stamatescu (eds.), Symbol and Physical Knowledge, Springer. pp. 109-121. 2002.
    In a recently published article A. Nordmann highlighted the fact that Hertz considered it as the greatest pleasure of scientific research to be “alone with nature” and to learn “directly from nature” (see Nordmann, 1998, p. 156). Hertz contrasts this being on his own with nature with the “disputes about human opinions views and demands. (see Nordmann, 1998, p. 156) . It is this contrast between nature on the one hand and human beliefs etc. on the other that is fundamental for his central epistem…Read more
  •  210
    Aspects of Reductive Explanation in Biological Science: Intrinsicality, Fundamentality, and Temporality
    British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 62 (3): 519-549. 2011.
    The inapplicability of variations on theory reduction in the context of genetics and their irrelevance to ongoing research has led to an anti-reductionist consensus in philosophy of biology. One response to this situation is to focus on forms of reductive explanation that better correspond to actual scientific reasoning (e.g. part–whole relations). Working from this perspective, we explore three different aspects (intrinsicality, fundamentality, and temporality) that arise from distinct facets o…Read more
  •  225
    The Problem of Radical Freedom
    In Anna Marmodoro, Christopher Austin & Andrea Roselli (eds.), Powers, Time and Free Will, Springer. pp. 185-198. 2022.
    Whether or not we are able to do x is on many philosophical accounts of our moral practice relevant for whether we are responsible for not doing x or for being excusable for not having done x. In this paper I will examine how such accounts are affected by whether a Humean or non-Humean account of laws is presupposed. More particularly, I will argue that (on one interpretation) Humean conceptions of laws, while able to avoid the consequence argument, run into what might be called “the problem of …Read more
  •  60
    Biology and history are often viewed as closely related disciplines, with biology informed by history, especially in its task of charting our evolutionary past. Maximizing the opportunities for cross-fertilization in these two fields requires an accurate reckoning of their commonalities and differences-precisely what this volume sets out to achieve. Specially commissioned essays by a team of recognized international researchers cover the full panoply of topics in these fields and include notable…Read more
  •  6
    The present book is devoted to the question of what the goal of physics is. The essential result of this is the rejection of traditional proposals for such a goal in favour of a new proposal. In both the rejection of the older proposal for a goal and the endorsement of the new one, I rely on a common practice in physics - the practice of idealisation. Traditional proposals for goals must be abandoned if they cannot explain this practice; my own proposal is supported by the fact that it can be sh…Read more
  •  50
    A Minimal Metaphysics for Scientific Practice
    Cambridge University Press. 2021.
    What are the metaphysical commitments which best 'make sense' of our scientific practice? In this book, Andreas Hüttemann provides a minimal metaphysics for scientific practice, i.e. a metaphysics that refrains from postulating any structure that is explanatorily irrelevant. Hüttemann closely analyses paradigmatic aspects of scientific practice, such as prediction, explanation and manipulation, to consider the questions whether and what metaphysical presuppositions best account for these practic…Read more
  •  88
    Emergence in physics
    with Orestis Terzidis
    International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 14 (3): 267-281. 2000.
    In this paper we intend to examine whether there are examples for emergence to be found in physics. The answer depends on the concept of emergence one invokes. We distinguish two such concepts, those of Broad and Kim. We will argue that it is unlikely that there will be examples with respect to the former because it runs counter to an explanatory strategy that is both well entrenched in physical practice and to a certain degree flexible. On the other hand we will argue that all those physical sy…Read more
  •  312
    Reduction
    with Alan Love
    In Paul Humphreys (ed.), The Oxford Handbook in Philosophy of Science, Oxford University Press. pp. 460-484. 2016.
    Reduction and reductionism have been central philosophical topics in analytic philosophy of science for more than six decades. Together they encompass a diversity of issues from metaphysics and epistemology. This article provides an introduction to the topic that illuminates how contemporary epistemological discussions took their shape historically and limns the contours of concrete cases of reduction in specific natural sciences. The unity of science and the impulse to accomplish compositional …Read more
  •  375
    Freier Wille und Naturgesetze: Überlegungen zum Konsequenzargument
    In Martin Breul, Aaron Langenfeld, Saskia Wendel & Klaus von Stoch (eds.), Streit um die Freiheit – Philosophische und Theologische Perspektiven, Schöningh. pp. 77-93. 2019.
    In this paper, we argue that the Consequence Argument relies on empirical premises. In particular, we show how the argument depends upon assumptions about the character of the laws of nature.
  •  600
    Processes, pre-emption and further problems
    Synthese 197 (4): 1487-1509. 2020.
    In this paper I will argue that what makes our ordinary judgements about token causation true can be explicated in terms of interferences into quasi-inertial processes. These interferences and quasi-inertial processes can in turn be fully explicated in scientific terms. In this sense the account presented here is reductive. I will furthermore argue that this version of a process-theory of causation can deal with the traditional problems that process theories have to face, such as the problem of …Read more
  •  1696
    Physikalismus, Materialismus und Naturalismus
    In Markus Schrenk (ed.), Handbuch Metaphysik (German), Metzler. pp. 292-298. 2017.
    Discusses and contrasts various accounts of physicalism, naturalism and materialism
  •  5
    Ursachen
    de Gruyter. 2013.
    Ursachen spielen im Alltag und in der Wissenschaft eine zentrale Rolle. Wir stützen uns auf Ursachenwissen wenn wir Vorhersagen machen, wenn wir Phänomene erklären, wenn wir in die Natur eingreifen und wenn wir Verantwortung zuschreiben. Aber was heißt es, dass etwas die Ursache eines Ereignisses ist? Dieses Buch gibt einen kurzen Überblick über historische Positionen, die auch für heutige Debatten noch relevant sind. Im Hauptteil wird ein systematischer Überblick über die wesentlichen Theorien …Read more
  •  384
    The Return of Causal Powers?
    In Stathis Psillos, Benjamin Hill & Henrik Lagerlund (eds.), Causal Powers in Science: Blending Historical and Conceptual Perspectives, Oxford University Press. pp. 168-185. 2021.
    Powers, capacities and dispositions (in what follows I will use these terms synonymously) have become prominent in recent debates in metaphysics, philosophy of science and other areas of philosophy. In this paper I will analyse in some detail a well-known argument from scientific practice to the existence of powers/capacities/dispositions. According to this argument the practice of extrapolating scientific knowledge from one kind of situation to a different kind of situation requires a specific …Read more
  •  199
    Wozu eine Störungstheorie der Kausalität?
    Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 69 (2): 181-196. 2015.
    The paper presents a version of a theory of actual causation in terms of default-processes and interferences. I will defend this account against criticisms raised by Sebastian Schmoranzer. I will in particular try to explain in what sense the proposed account of causation is reductive. Furthermore I will elucidate how it deals with controversially discussed issues such as pre-emption and the transitivity of causation.
  •  397
    Spinoza, La Forge und das Problem der Modi
    Methodus 8 33-55. 2016.
    The paper argues that it is essential for modes in Spinoza's metaphyics to both, to inhere in and to be caused by the substance.
  • Papers by Andreas Bartels, Ansgar Beckermann, Frédéric Bouchard, Thomas Breuer, Bruno Eckhardt, Bruce Glymour, Claus Kiefer, Roberta Millstein and Alexander Rosenberg