Eberhardt, Frederick (2012) Experimental Indistinguishability of Causal Structures. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Using a variety of different results from the literature, we show how causal discovery with experiments is limited unless substantive assumptions about the underlying causal structure are made. These results undermine the view that experiments, such as randomized controlled trials, can independently provide a gold standard for causal discovery. Moreover, we present a concrete example in which causal underdetermination persists despite exhaustive experimentation, and argue that such cases undermine the appeal of an interventionist account of causation as its dependence on other assumptions is not spelled out.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Eberhardt, Frederick fde@cmu.edu
Keywords:	causality; experiments; interventionism; underdetermination
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Formal Learning Theory
Depositing User:	Dr Frederick Eberhardt
Date Deposited:	09 Jan 2013 12:45
Last Modified:	09 Jan 2013 12:45
Item ID:	9511
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Formal Learning Theory
Date:	November 2012
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9511

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