Ross, Lauren N. (2015) Causal Control: A Rationale for Causal Selection. [Preprint]

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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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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Ross, Lauren N. lnr18@pitt.edu
Keywords:	Causation, causal selection, causal explanation, explanation, biology, biomedicine
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Medicine
Depositing User:	Lauren N. Ross
Date Deposited:	29 Oct 2015 11:30
Last Modified:	29 Oct 2015 11:30
Item ID:	11743
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Medicine
Date:	28 October 2015
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/11743

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