Hanley, Brian J (2020) What Caused the Bhopal Gas Tragedy? The Philosophical Importance of Causal and Pragmatic Details. [Preprint]

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Abstract

In cases where many causes together bring about an effect, it is common to select some as particularly important. Philosophers since Mill have been pessimistic about analyzing this reasoning due its variability and the multifarious causal and pragmatic details of how it works. I argue Mill was right to think these details matter, but wrong that they preclude philosophical analysis of causal selection. I show that analyzing the pragmatic details of scientific debates about the important causes of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy can illuminate causal reasoning about disasters, and shed new light on causality and causal selection.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Hanley, Brian J bhanley@ucalgary.ca
Keywords:	Causal Selection, Causation, Pragmatism, Engineering, Safety
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation Specific Sciences > Engineering General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science
Depositing User:	Brian Hanley
Date Deposited:	22 Jul 2020 04:56
Last Modified:	22 Jul 2020 04:56
Item ID:	17604
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation Specific Sciences > Engineering General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science
Date:	2020
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/17604

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