Actual Causation by Probabilistic Active Paths
Philosophy of Science 78 (5):900-913 (2011)
| Abstract | We present a probabilistic extension to active path analyses of token causation (Halpern & Pearl 2001, forthcoming; Hitchcock 2001). The extension uses the generalized notion of intervention presented in (Korb et al. 2004): we allow an intervention to set any probability distribution over the intervention variables, not just a single value. The resulting account can handle a wide range of examples. We do not claim the account is complete --- only that it fills an obvious gap in previous active-path approaches. It still succumbs to recent counterexamples by Hiddleston (2005), because it does not explicitly consider causal processes. We claim three benefits: a detailed comparison of three active-path approaches, a probabilistic extension for each, and an algorithmic formulation. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,705 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesErik Weber (2009). How Probabilistic Causation Can Account for the Use of Mechanistic Evidence. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 23 (3):277-295.
Christian Jakob (2006). Hitchcock's (2001) Treatment of Singular and General Causation. Minds and Machines 16 (3).
Bruce Glymour (2003). On the Metaphysics of Probabilistic Causation: Lessons From Social Epidemiology. Philosophy of Science 70 (5):1413-1423.
Bruce Glymour (2003). On the Metaphysics of Probabilistic Causation: Lessons From Social Epidemiology. Philosophy of Science 70 (5):1413-1423.
Christopher Hitchcock (1996). A Probabilistic Theory of Second Order Causation. Erkenntnis 44 (3):369 - 377.
Peter Menzies (1989). Probabilistic Causation and Causal Processes: A Critique of Lewis. Philosophy of Science 56 (4):642-663.
Charles R. Twardy & Kevin B. Korb (2004). A Criterion of Probabilistic Causation. Philosophy of Science 71 (3):241-262.
Christopher Hitchcock, Probabilistic Causation. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Luke Glynn (2011). A Probabilistic Analysis of Causation. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 62 (2):343-392.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads19 ( #64,434 of 549,196 )Recent downloads (6 months)3 ( #25,790 of 549,196 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
