Weinberger, Naftali (2020) Near-Decomposability and the Time-Scale Relativity of Causal Representations. [Preprint]

Preview

Text PSA-ND-Revisions-Unformatted.pdf Download (370kB) | Preview

Abstract

A common strategy for simplifying complex systems involves partitioning
them into subsystems whose behaviors are roughly independent of one another at shorter time-scales. Dynamic causal models (Iwasaki and Simon, 1994) explain how doing so reveals a system's non-equilibrium causal relationships. Here I use these models to elucidate the idealizations and abstractions involved in representing a system at a time-scale. The models reveal that key features of causal representations - such as which variables are exogenous - may vary with the time-scale at which a system is considered. This has implications for debates regarding which systems can be understood causally.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Weinberger, Naftali naftali.weinberger@gmail.com
Additional Information:	To Appear in Philosophy of Science. Originally presented as part of the symposium "Strategies for dealing with causal complexity"
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science Specific Sciences > Economics General Issues > Models and Idealization
Depositing User:	Mr. Naftali Weinberger
Date Deposited:	04 Feb 2020 00:09
Last Modified:	04 Feb 2020 00:09
Item ID:	16882
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science Specific Sciences > Economics General Issues > Models and Idealization
Date:	2020
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/16882

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item