| Authors |
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| Abstract |
Causal selection has to do with the distinction we make between background conditions
and “the” true cause or causes of some outcome of interest. A longstanding consensus
in philosophy views causal selection as lacking any objective rationale and as guided,
instead, by arbitrary, pragmatic, and non-scientific considerations. I argue against this
position in the context of causal selection for disease traits. In this domain, causes
are selected on the basis of the type of causal control they exhibit over a disease of
interest. My analysis clarifies the principled rationale that guides this selection and how
it involves both pragmatic and objective considerations, which have been overlooked
in the extant literature.
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| Keywords | Causation Explanation Philosophy of Science Philosophy of Biology Philosophy of Medicine |
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| Reprint years | 2017 |
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References found in this work BETA
Making Things Happen: A Theory of Causal Explanation.James Woodward - 2003 - Oxford University Press.
Aspects of Scientific Explanation.Carl Hempel - 1965 - In Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. Free Press. pp. 504.
View all 28 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
How Causal Are Microbiomes? A Comparison with the H Elicobacter Pylori Explanation of Ulcers.Kate E. Lynch, Emily C. Parke & Maureen A. O’Malley - 2019 - Biology and Philosophy 34 (6):62.
How Causal Are Microbiomes? A Comparison with the Helicobacter Pylori Explanation of Ulcers.Kate E. Lynch, Emily C. Parke & Maureen A. O’Malley - 2019 - Biology and Philosophy 34 (6):62.
Causal Selection Versus Causal Parity in Biology: Relevant Counterfactuals and Biologically Normal Interventions.Marcel Weber - forthcoming - In C. Kenneth Waters & James Woodward (eds.), Philosophical Perspectives on Causal Reasoning in Biology. Minnesota Studies in Philosophy of Science. Vol. XXI. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Causal Concepts in Biology: How Pathways Differ From Mechanisms and Why It Matters.Lauren N. Ross - 2021 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 72 (1):131-158.
Commentary on ‘How Causal Are Microbiomes?’.Melinda Bonnie Fagan - 2019 - Biology and Philosophy 34 (6):58.
View all 7 citations / Add more citations
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