PHIL 105 : Phil-XX1 - Study Guide 2 - Chapters 4-5

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 105
• Professor: J.Katz

Document Summary

Method of agreement: occurrences that are in common. 2 people get sick, both ate same food. Antecedent circumstances events that came before (causes) Method of difference: x is cause for which e occurs, lack of x prevents e. Joint method of agreement and difference: two cases that are exactly similar except for the presence or absence of a single antecedent circumstance. Method of agreement is applied to all cases in which the condition occurs, and again to all cases where condition does not occur. Method of difference used to compare the two cases. Method of concomitant variation: cause and effect rise and fall together. Change in strength of effect is accounted for by a change in strength of the cause. Method of residues: using leftover causes to explain unexplained effects. Used with complex effects (effects that could have more than one potential cause/ effect) Probabilistic cause: makes it more likely that the effect will occur.