The philosophical and scientific understanding of causation, especially concerning the natural world, underwent a dramatic transformation between the end of sixteenth century and the end of the eighteenth century. New approaches emerged and challenged the Aristotelian and Scholastic accounts, which nonetheless continue to exercise a significant influence and produce new developments.The aim of these meetings is to provide a forum to discuss and deepen the intricate debate on causality during the period.

This series is part of the activities of the NWO veni project “Occasionalism and the secularization of early modern science” [link] led by Dr. Andrea Sangiacomo. The workshops are jointly organized with the OZSW Study Group in Early Modern Philosophy [https://www.ozsw.nl/study-group/study-group-early-modern-philosophy/].

First Meeting

Scholastic and early modern accounts of causation

March 14, 2016

Faculty of Philosophy, Oude Boteringestraat 52 Groningen

Program:

14.00-15.00: Can Laurens Loewe (KU Leuven): Powers and Causes in Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-Century Thought: the Metaphysics of Causation from Thomas Aquinas to John Buridan

15.00-16.00: Han Thomas Adriaenssen (Groningen): Mind Body Interaction and sine qua non causation in Thirteenth-Century Franciscan Psychology

16.00-16.15: coffee break 

16.15-17.15: Jean-Pascal Anfray (ENS Paris): Free agency without an agent? Suarez on the notion of a free cause.

17.15-18.15: Doina-Cristina Rusu (Bucharest): Transforming Natural Bodies. Francis Bacon on Efficient and Formal Causes

18.15-18.30: Conclusions, followed by Drinks&Dinner