Bigelow I 268
Cause/Mackie/Bigelow/Pargetter: he comes to similar results as Lewis, but with strict conditionals.
C: is a conjunction of conditions
c: cause
e: effect.
I 268
Counterfactual Conditional/Lewis:
c would happen > e would happen
c would not happen > e would not happen
Mackie: strict conditionals:
N(C applies and c happens > e happens)
N(C applies and c does not happen > e does not happen).
Cause/INUS/Mackie: (Mackie 1965)
(1) Thesis: not sufficient but necessary part of an unnecessary but sufficient condition.
Cause/Lewis/Mackie/Bigelow/Pargetter: both assume a chain of necessary conditions. They differ in how the links of the chain are to be connected.
Lewis: through counterfactual conditionals
Mackie: through strict conditionals. Their antecedents can be so complex that we cannot specify them in practice.
Backup System/Bigelow/Pargetter: (see above) would cause a counterfactual conditional to fail. Nevertheless, Lewis will treat the cause as the cause because it contributes to the chain.
Mackie: ditto, because the deviating cause is part of a sufficient condition.
>
Cause/Lewis.
BigelowVsLewis/BigelowVsMackie: both theories have disadvantages.
1. J. L. Mackie (1965). Causes and Conditions, American Philosophical Quarterly2, pp. 245-55, 261-64.
