CAUSALITY, METHOD, AND MODALITY

Transcription

1 CAUSALITY, METHOD, AND MODALITY

2 THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONT ARlO SERIES IN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE A SERIES OF BOOKS IN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, METHODOLOGY, EPISTEMOLOG LOGIC, HISTORY OF SCIENCE, AND RELATED FIELDS Managing Editor ROBERT E. BUTTS Dept. of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, Canal Editorial Board JEFFREY BUB, University of Western Ontario L. JONATHAN COHEN, Queen's College, Oxford WILLIAM DEMOPOULOS, University of Western Ontario WILLIAM HARPER, University of Western Ontario JAAKKO HINTIKKA, Florida State University, Tallahassee CLIFFORD A. HOOKER, University of Newcastle HENRY E. KYBURG, JR., University of Rochester AUSONIO MARRAS, University of Western Ontario.rORGEN MITTELS1RASS, Universitiit Konstanz JOHN M. NICHOLAS, University of Western Ontario BAS C. VAN FRAASSEN, Princeton University VOLUME 48

3 CAUSALITY, METHOD, AND MODALITY Essays in Honor of Jules Vuillemin With a Complete Bibliography of Jules Vuillemin Editedby Gordon G. Brittan, Jr. Regents Professor of Philosophy, Montana State University SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.

4 Library ofcongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Causality. method. and madality : essays in hanar of Jules Vuillemin / edited by Gardan G. Brittan. Jr. p. cm. -- <The University of Western Ontaria series in philasaphy of science ; v. 48) Essays in English ar French. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Philosaphy. 2. Vuillemin. Jules. r. Vuillemin. Jules. II. Brittan. Gardan G. III. Series. B29.C dc ISBN Printed on acid-free paper AII Rights 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1991 Softcover reprint of the hardcover Ist edition 1991 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.

5 Table of Contents PREFACE vii Jules Vuillemin / "Ma vie en bref' 1 Patrick Suppes / "Indeterminism or Instability, Does It Matter?" 5 Erhard Scheibe / "Covariance and the Non-Preference of Coordinate Systems" 23 Pierre Laberge / "Kant's 'Platonic' Argument in Behalf of the A Priori Character of the Representation of Space" 41 F r a n Duchesneau ~ o i s / "The Sense of the A Priori Method in Leibniz' s Dynamics" 53 Gilles Gaston Granger / "Methode axiomatique et idee de systeme dans l'oeuvre de Jules Vuillemin" 83 Gordon G. Brittan, Jr. / "Algebra, Constructibility, and the Indeterminate" 99 Karel Lambert / "On Whether an Answer to a Why-Question Is an Explanation If and Only If It Yields Scientific Understanding" 125 Ruth Barcan Marcus / "Some Revisionary Proposals About Belief and Believing" 143 Brian Skyrms / "Quantification, Modality, and Semantic Ascent" 175 David Wiggins / "Temporal Necessity, Time and Ability: a philosophical commentary on Diodorus Cronus' Master Argument as given in the interpretation of Jules Vuillemin" 185 Jules Vuillemin / "Replies" 207 List of the Publications of Jules Vuillemin,

6

7 Preface Deservedly so, Jules Vuillemin is widely respected and greatly admired. It is not simply that he has produced a large body of outstanding work, in many different areas of philosophy. Or that he combines to an unusual degree rigorous standards with a very wide perspective. Or even that in his path-breaking accounts of algebra, of!)escartes, of Kant and of Russell, he showed in new and profound ways how the histories of science and philosophy could be used to illuminate each other. It is also that he has pursued the application of formal techniques and the defense of liberal institutions with a rare singlemindedness and courage. In a time and place where the former were generally ignored and the latter often attacked, he carried on, at some personal cost, embodying a traditional and ideal conception of the philosophical life, bridging national differences. Those who know him also treasure his friendship. Always curious, he delights in new facts and new experiences, and continually heightens the perception of those around him. Almost yearly, at the College de France he introduced brand new courses always with fresh and fruitful insights. Exceptionally solicitous, he follows the lives of the families around him in great detail. The devotion of his students is legend. His personal energy is also legend. Many of us have followed him bounding up the stairs two at a time or through the gardens of the Luxembourg, his wit and irony apace. Some of us have been fortunate enough to ski with him along the ridges of the Jura dividing France and Switzerland, arriving back at his mountain home exhausted and famished, to enjoy the unending hospitality that he and his wife Gudrun, herself an established scholar, provide. The participation in this volume d'hommages of well-know philosophers from widely diverse areas of interest and a number of different countries testifies to the importance and influence of Jules Vuillemin's work. We hope that this volume, presented to him in his vii

8 viii PREFACE seventieth year and upon retirement from a distinguished career at the College de France, will underline the importance and extend the influence. In the Vie de Rance, Chateaubriand wrote: "Tout est fragile; apres avoir vecu quelque temps, on ne sa it plus si on a bien ou si on a mal vecu." Tout est fragile. But from a provisional point of view, who would not agree that Jules Vuillemin has tees bien vecu.