Woodward, James (2015) Causation in Science. [Preprint]
![[img]](https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/style/images/fileicons/application_msword.png) |
Microsoft Word
woodward_Causation_in_Science.__on_line___._10.21._15.__.docx Download (168kB) |
Abstract
This article discusses some philosophical theories of causation and their application to several areas of science. Topics addressed include regularity, counterfactual, and causal process theories of causation; the causal interpretation of structural equation models and directed graphs; independence assumptions in causal reasoning; and the role of causal concepts in physics. In connection with this last topic, this article focuses on the relationship between causal asymmetries, the time-reversal invariance of most fundamental physical laws, and the significance of differences among varieties of differential equations (e.g., hyperbolic versus non-hyperbolic) in causal interpretation. It concludes with some remarks about “grounding” special science causal generalizations in physics.
| Export/Citation: | EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL |
| Social Networking: |
| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creators: |
|
||||||
| Additional Information: | This is a much longer on-line version of a shorter paper with the same title that will appear in Paul Humphreys (ed.) Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Science | ||||||
| Keywords: | causation, structural equations, directed graphs, causal asymmetry | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
||||||
| Depositing User: | Jim Woodward | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 28 Oct 2015 13:09 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 28 Oct 2015 13:09 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 11738 | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
||||||
| Date: | October 2015 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/11738 |
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[feed]](http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/style/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}