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Causation in Biology: Stability, Specificity, and the Choice of Levels of Explanation

Woodward, James (2009) Causation in Biology: Stability, Specificity, and the Choice of Levels of Explanation. [Preprint]

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Abstract

This paper attempts to elucidate three characteristics of causal relationships that are significant in biological contexts. Stability has to do with whether a causal relationship continues to hold under changes in background conditions. Proportionality has to do with whether changes in the state of the cause “line up” in the right way with changes in the state of the effect and with whether the cause and effect are characterized in a way that contains irrelevant detail. Specificity is connected both to David Lewis’ notion of “influence” and also with the extent to which a causal relation approximates to the ideal of one cause-one effect. Interrelations among these notions and their possible biological significance are also discussed.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
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Woodward, James
Keywords: Cause, Stability, Levels of Explanation, Causal Specificity
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
General Issues > Causation
Depositing User: Jim Woodward
Date Deposited: 03 Aug 2009
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2010 15:18
Item ID: 4813
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
General Issues > Causation
Date: August 2009
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/4813

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