Course Catalogue

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This course explores one of the central topics of metaphysics: causation. It takes the historical, recent, and state-of-the-art developments in theorising about causation, and relates it to a range of other topics in philosophy, and in the wider world. Students will learn to critically engage with up-to-date professional texts, and to apply their understanding on this topic to their other courses, and, for some, to their future work. 

16x1hr lectures and 4x1hr seminars as scheduled on MyCampus. This is one of the Honours options in Philosophy and may not run every year. 

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into Philosophy, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

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The standard assessments for this course are: 

■ Essay (2,500 words) - 70%

■ Two Reflections (500 words each) - 30% 

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available: 

■ There are no alternatives to the essay and reflections, but flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.  

This course aims to:

■ Introduce students to key concepts and positions within the philosophy of causation. 

■ Provide students the opportunity to engage with contemporary debates, and exercise their critical reasoning skills. 

■ Illuminate different methodological approaches within metaphysics, and the inter-connected nature of different metaphysical debates. 

■ Equip students with an enriched understanding of a key concept within modern analytic philosophy. 

By the end of this course students will be able to: 

■ Explain the conceptual role of causation in debates around epistemology, perception, ontology, ethics, and the law.

■ Critically assess, explain, and critically assess the counterfactual theory of causation and the modal metaphysics behind it

■ Compare and contrast the contrastive and interventionist theories of causation.

■ Critically assess the distinction between causation and causal explanation in light of the methodologies deployed in contemporary debates around causation.

■ Identify controversial causal assumptions in the wider philosophical literature outwith metaphysics.