Open AccessLocke and the Real Problem of Causation
Author(s) -
Walter Ott
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
locke studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2561-925X
pISSN - 1476-0290
DOI - 10.5206/ls.2015.678
Subject(s) - causation , epistemology , philosophy , simple (philosophy)
Any number of problems about causation emerge when one puts Locke into contact with other philosophers such as Hume. But Locke’s real problem with causation is internal to his view. It is very simple: Chapter xxvi of Book II of the Essay is entitled ‘Of Cause and Effect, and other Relations’. Yet Locke has just finished explaining that relations are not real. So causation is not real.