Dong, Zili
(2022)
Well-Defined Interventions and Causal Variable Choice.
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Abstract
There has been much debate among scientists and philosophers about what it means for (hypothetical) interventions invoked in causal inference to be “well-defined” and how considerations of this sort should constrain the choice of causal variables. In this paper, I propose that an intervention is well-defined just in case the effect of interest is well-defined, and that the intervention can serve as a suitable means to identify that effect. Based on this proposal, I identify several types of ambiguous intervention. Implications for variable choice are discussed using case studies drawn from the sciences.
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