In much recent work, invariance under intervention has become a hallmark of the correctness of a causal-law claim. Despite its importance this thesis generally is either simply assumed or is supported by very general arguments with heavy reliance on examples, and crucial notions involved are characterized only loosely. Yet for both philosophical analysis and practicing science, it is important to clarify whether invariance under intervention is or is not necessary or sufficient for which kinds of causal claims. Furthermore, we need to know what counts as an intervention and what invariance is. In this paper I offer explicit definitions of two different kinds for the notions intervention, invariance, and causal correctness. Then, given some natural and relatively uncontroversial assumptions, I prove two distinct sets of theorems showing that invariance is indeed a mark of causality when the concepts are appropriately interpreted.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Oriana Rosero González;
Fabián Alberto Jaimes Barragán;
(2023)
"Cometomancy" and Francisco Sánchez: An additional reflection on to causality
(/isis/citation/CBB526376009/)
Book
Tad M. Schmaltz;
(2014)
Efficient Causation: A History
(/isis/citation/CBB589736507/)
Book
Beate Krickel;
(2019)
The Mechanical World: The Metaphysical Commitments of the New Mechanistic Approach
(/isis/citation/CBB345092339/)
Book
Markus Schrenk;
(2016)
Metaphysics of Science: A Systematic and Historical Introduction
(/isis/citation/CBB675008618/)
Book
Groff, Ruth;
(2004)
Critical Realism, Post-Positivism, and the Possibility of Knowledge
(/isis/citation/CBB000401064/)
Article
Twardy, Charles R.;
Korb, Kevin B.;
(2004)
A Criterion of Probabilistic Causation
(/isis/citation/CBB000410793/)
Article
Weber, Erik;
Ylikoski, Petri;
(2005)
Preface to Special Issue Roles, Disposition and Explanation
(/isis/citation/CBB000640131/)
Book
Bonin, Therese M.;
(2001)
Creation as Emanation: The Origin of Diversity in Albert the Great's on the Causes and the Procession the Universe
(/isis/citation/CBB000101929/)
Book
Sandbothe, Mike;
(2001)
The Temporalization of Time: Basic Tendencies in Modern Debate on Time in Philosophy of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB000410589/)
Article
William T.Y. Wong;
(2020)
Evolutionary contingency as non-trivial objective probability: Biological evitability and evolutionary trajectories
(/isis/citation/CBB587506277/)
Book
Nancy Cartwright;
Eleanora Montuschi;
(2015)
Philosophy of Social Science: A New Introduction
(/isis/citation/CBB013131646/)
Book
Peter Rabins;
(2013)
The Why of Things: Causality in Science, Medicine, and Life
(/isis/citation/CBB965255953/)
Book
Alexander R. Pruss;
(2018)
Infinity, Causation, and Paradox
(/isis/citation/CBB729390298/)
Article
Oliver M. Lean;
(2019)
Chemical arbitrariness and the causal role of molecular adapters
(/isis/citation/CBB162430966/)
Article
Hausman, Daniel M.;
Woodward, James;
(2004)
Modularity and the Causal Markov Condition: A Restatement
(/isis/citation/CBB000410752/)
Thesis
Bray, Michael Edward, Jr.;
(2002)
The science and politics of the efficient cause in Hobbes and Spinoza
(/isis/citation/CBB001562181/)
Book
Lange, Marc;
(2002)
An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics: Locality, Fields, Energy, and Mass
(/isis/citation/CBB000201447/)
Article
Hofer-Szabó, Gábor;
Rédei, Miklós;
Szabó, László E.;
(2002)
Common-Causes are Not Common Common-Causes
(/isis/citation/CBB000410810/)
Article
Davide Vecchi;
(2020)
DNA is not an ontologically distinctive developmental cause
(/isis/citation/CBB782857037/)
Book
Gabor Hofer-Szabo;
(2013)
The Principle of the Common Cause
(/isis/citation/CBB454051627/)
Be the first to comment!