Causation by Disconnection

Causation by Concentration

This essay is concerned with concentrations of entities, which play an important— albeit often overlooked—role in scientific explanation. First, I discuss an example from molecular biology to show that concentrations can play an irreducible causal role. Second, I provide a preliminary philosophical analysis of this causal role, suggesting some implications for extant theories of causation. I co...

Mental Causation: Compulsion by Reason

The standard paradigm for mental causation is a person’s acting for a reason. Something happens she intentionally φ’s the occurrence of which we explain by citing a relevant belief or desire. In the present context, I simply take for granted the following two conditions on the appropriateness of this explanation. First, the agent φ’s because she believes/desires what we say she does, where this...

Causation and Mental Causation

How the mind of a human being can determine the bodily spirits [i.e., the fluids in the nerves, muscles, etc.] in producing voluntary actions, being only a thinking substance. For it appears that all determination of movement is produced by the pushing of the thing being moved, by the manner in which it is pushed by that which moves it, or else by the qualification and figure of the surface of ...

Disconnection and Responsibility

An Effective Case for Chyluria by Retroperitoneoscopic Lymphatic Disconnection

BACKGROUND Chyluria is a rare disease in Japan. Lymphatic disconnection is the most effective treatment for patients with Chyluria, and laparoscopic approach is performed as a minimally invasive technique. CASE PRESENTATION We present a case of a 40-year-old man who referred to our hospital because of recurrence of chyluria. Chyluria had continued for 20 years, and the patient had received re...