Mechanism (disambiguation)

The term mechanism can be applied in the following contexts:

• In mechanical engineering is called mechanism a set of rigid, mobile elements, whose purpose is to transmit movements and forces. They are the theoretical abstractions of the operation of the machines and their study deals with the theory of mechanisms.
• In chemistry Reaction mechanism is a detailed description of the different steps through which a chemical reaction occurs.
• Philosophy is called Mechanism a theory that natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes. The doctrine of the mechanism in philosophy comes in two different theories. These doctrines are metaphysical, but they differ in scope and ambitions: the first is a global doctrine on nature that has been abandoned more or less completely; the second is a local doctrine on human beings and their minds, which is disputed today. These doctrines could be distinguished as the universal mechanism and anthropological mechanism.
• 'Mechanism', in the context of science and philosophy of science, alludes in general terms to those processes whose main characteristic is regular production of certain behavior in a given entity. Consequently, the notion of "mechanism" is closely related to that of "cause" (e.g. in Wesley Salmon), although there are authors who distinguish them between themselves (e.g. Mario Bunge). According to the author, a mechanism is the complex entity (Stuart Glennan), entities and activities (Peter Machamer) or the collection of processes of a productive system (Mario Bunge) of interest behavior.