Overview
This week we'll finish Chapter 5 and start Chapter 6. The last part of Ch. 5 touches on some interesting questions concerning the goals of science, while Ch. 6 shows how invariance relation can be used to handle many puzzles in contemporary causal theories, especially Lewis's popular account of causation.
In your discussions, please address the following questions:
Woodward makes a very interesting point that sciences don't just aim at truth -- but rather they aim at a particular kind of truth. What is it? Do you agree with him?
In Chapter 6, Woodward reviewed Lewis's counterfactual theory again and claimed that many puzzles to Lewis's theory can be explained by the features (strength) of invariance relation. Lewis's notion of sensitivity is interpreted as a violation of background invariance, and his puzzles (such as the rec-letter example) can be readily explained in terms of background invariance (or violation of it). Please explain a bit more on what Woodward tried to accomplish here, maybe with some of your favorite examples (not limited to the one mentioned above); Do you agree with his analyses and interpretations?