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    A definition of causation in terms of counterfactuals req... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Causal statements cannot be defined purely in terms of counterfactual dependence

    A definition of causation in terms of counterfactuals requires an asymmetry between cause and effect

    CausationModality & Possibility
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    Modality & PossibilityCausation

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    Related propositions within the same area of thought.
    Causal statements cannot be defined purely in terms of counterfactual dependenceIf causal sufficiency is represented counterfactually, then the ice is also coun...In the frost-ice example, the frost is both causally necessary and causally suff...When cause and effect are each counterfactually dependent on the other, counterf...

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    When cause and effect are each counterfactually dependent on the other...84%Self-causation is a contradiction in terms.84%Our ordinary notion of causation involves causes necessitating their e...83%The Stalnaker-Lewis theory of counterfactuals cannot adequately evalua...82%

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    SEP: causation-backwards
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    As we saw above, Hume also believed that causal statements entail counterfactuals, but the question is whether causal statements are definable in terms of counterfactuals. Here is an objection against such an attempt: Consider the following example. Because of severe frost during the night, ice covers the lake this morning. So, given the circumstances, if it had not been severe frost, there would not have been any ice on the lake. However, in these circumstances, the frost as the cause of the ic

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