Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T21:21:14.586Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Perceiving Causation via Videomicroscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Abstract

Although scientific images have begun to receive significant attention from philosophers, one type of image has thus far been ignored: moving images. As techniques such as live cell imaging and videomicroscopy are becoming increasingly important in many areas of biology, however, this oversight needs to be corrected. Biologists often claim that there are relevant differences between video and static images. Most interesting is the idea that video images allow us to see causal relationships. By identifying the conditions that would be required for this to be true and showing that they are not satisfied at the micro level, I will show that videomicroscopy does not provide us with special access to causal information.

Type
Philosophy of Science: Causation
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anscombe, G. E. M. (1994), “Causality and Determination” in Sosa, E. and Tooley, M. (eds.), Causation. New York: Oxford University Press, 88104.Google Scholar
Armstrong, D. M. (1997), A World of States of Affairs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cartwright, N. (2000), “An Empiricist Defence of Singular Causes”, in Teichman, R. (ed.), Logic, Cause, and Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 4758.Google Scholar
Ducasse, C. J. (1994), “On the Nature and Observability of the Causal Relation”, in Sosa, E. and Tooley, M. (eds.), Causation. New York: Oxford University Press, 125136.Google Scholar
Fales, E. (1990), Causation and Universals. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Griesemer, J. R. (1991), “Material Models in Biology”, in Fine, A., Forbes, M., and Wessels, L. (eds.), PSA 1990, Vol. 2. East Lansing, MI: Philosophy of Science Association, 7993.Google Scholar
Hammer, E. (1995), Logic and Visual Information. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Hume, D. (1980), A Treatise of Human Nature. 2nd rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar
Hurtley, S. M., and Helmuth, L. (2003), “The Future Looks Bright”, The Future Looks Bright 300 (5616): 75.Google Scholar
Kitcher, P., and Varzi, A. (2000), “Some Pictures Are Worth 2ℵ0 Sentences”, Some Pictures Are Worth 2ℵ0 Sentences 75:277381.Google Scholar
Menzies, P. (1998), “How Justified Are the Humean Doubts about Intrinsic Causal Links?”, How Justified Are the Humean Doubts about Intrinsic Causal Links? 31:339364.Google Scholar
Michotte, A. ([1946] 1963), The Perception of Causality. Trans. Miles, T. and Miles, E.. New York: Basic Books. Originally published as A. Michotte (1946), La perception de la causalité. Louvain: Publications Universitaires.Google Scholar
Perini, L. (2005), “The Truth in Pictures”, The Truth in Pictures 72:262285.Google Scholar
Rieder, C. L., and Khodjakov, A. (2003), “Mitosis through the Microscope: Advances in Seeing inside Live Dividing Cells”, Mitosis through the Microscope: Advances in Seeing inside Live Dividing Cells 300:9196.Google ScholarPubMed
Ruse, M. (1991), “Are Pictures Really Necessary? The Case of Sewall Wright’s ‘Adaptive Landscapes’”, in Fine, A., Forbes, M., and Wessels, L. (eds.), PSA 1990, Vol. 2. East Lansing, MI: Philosophy of Science Association, 6377.Google Scholar
Scholl, Brian J., and Nakayama, Ken (2004), “Illusory Causal Crescents: Misperceived Spatial Relations Due to Perceived Causality”, Illusory Causal Crescents: Misperceived Spatial Relations Due to Perceived Causality 33:455469.Google ScholarPubMed
Stephens, D. J., and Allan, V. J. (2003), “Light Microscopy Techniques for Live Cell Imaging”, Light Microscopy Techniques for Live Cell Imaging 300:8286.Google ScholarPubMed
Twardy, C. R., and Bingham, G. P. (2002), “Causation, Causal Perception, and Conservation Laws”, Causation, Causal Perception, and Conservation Laws 64:956968.Google ScholarPubMed
White, P. A., and Milne, A. (2003), “Visual Impressions of Penetration in the Perception of Objects in Motion”, Visual Impressions of Penetration in the Perception of Objects in Motion 10 (5): 605619..Google Scholar