> On Oct 21, 2016, at 1:30 PM, John F Sowa <[email protected]> wrote: > > That is true of all the sciences, especially physics. When I used > the word 'modern', I meant the informal use by Hume. But as early > as the 17th century, physicists discovered that the differential > equations by Newton and Leibniz (local "efficient" causation) could > be derived by minimizing integral equations. That minimum could be > interpreted as global "final" causation. For a summary of the history, > see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_action > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_action>
It’s interesting that the three main formulations of mechanics (Newtonian form in terms of bodies and forces/causes; the Hamiltonian; and the Lagrangian) really entail very different ontological ways of looking at causation or even if causation is foundational. I’d say that if we take a more Hamiltonian perspective that really we’re looking at the evolution of information rather than causes per se. I’d not considered the minimization approach of the Lagrangian as final causation. But I guess from a certain perspective it is.
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