The Scapegoat Theory of Causality

Marcello di Paola

Abstract



Wittgenstein’s conception of causality evolved with his career, and a study of its
trajectory illuminates important dimensions of the philosopher’s thought. Focusing
the analysis on Cause and Effect and On Certainty, in this paper I show it to be
genealogical, and to be consistent with and best made sense of by an evolutionary
interpretation. I label this the scapegoat theory of causality.

Keywords


philosophy; 20th century philosophy; Wittgenstein Ludwig; causality; scapegoating; genealogical reconstructions; evolutionary explanations

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