The Topography of Historical Contingency

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4771301
AutoresRob Inkpen (0000-0002-1510-6911, Connecticut College), Diane D Turner (0000-0001-7817-0788, Connecticut College), Derek Turner
Año2012
Volumen6
Número1
Páginas1-19
Fecha de publicación2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of the Philosophy of History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1872-261X • E-ISSN: 1872-2636
EditorialWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/187226312x625573
OpenAlexW1999445737
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas2

Starting with Ben-Menahem's definition of historical contingency as sensitivity to variations in initial conditions, we suggest that historical events and processes can be thought of as forming a complex landscape of contingency and necessity. We suggest three different ways of extending and elaborating Ben-Menahem's concepts: (1) By supplementing them with a notion of historical disturbance; (2) by pointing out that contingency and necessity are subject to scaling effects; (3) by showing how degrees of contingency/necessity can change over time. We also argue that further development of Sterelny's notion of conditional inevitability leads to our conclusion that the topography of historical contingency is something that can change over time

Contingency · Contingency plan · Epistemology · Subject (documents · Computer Science · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · History · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science