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    Made withinDC&Austin
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    Causation does not involve determination or necessity. — Carmelics
    Home/Modality & Possibility
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    Causation does not involve determination or necessity.

    CausationModality & Possibility
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.In the Geiger counter bomb case, the bomb exploding was caused by the Geiger counter arrangement.
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    • 2.The radioactive decay was not sufficient to produce the explosion — it was merely probabilistically connected to it.
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    • 3.If causation required necessity or determination, the radioactive decay could not count as a cause in this case.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Probabilistic causation can be reformulated as determination relative to a more complete description of the physical state, as Lewis's counterfactual analysis shows.
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    • 2.The apparent indeterminacy in quantum cases reflects epistemic limits or incomplete causal models, not an absence of determination in the causal relation itself.
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    • 3.If counterfactual dependence (had the decay not occurred, the explosion would not have occurred) is sufficient for causation, necessity is preserved under a modal reading.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Mackie's INUS account demonstrates that causes are insufficient but necessary parts of sufficient conditions, preserving a modal constraint within singular causal claims.
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    • 2.The Geiger counter case identifies radioactive decay as necessary within the actual causal constellation, meaning necessity is not eliminated but relativized to background conditions.
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    Topics

    Modality & PossibilityCausation

    Related

    If causation required necessity or determination, the radioactive decay could no...If counterfactual dependence (had the decay not occurred, the explosion would no...In the Geiger counter bomb case, the bomb exploding was caused by the Geiger cou...Mackie's INUS account demonstrates that causes are insufficient but necessary pa...
    +4 moreShow less
    Probabilistic causation can be reformulated as determination relative to a more ...The Geiger counter case identifies radioactive decay as necessary within the act...The apparent indeterminacy in quantum cases reflects epistemic limits or incompl...The radioactive decay was not sufficient to produce the explosion — it was merel...

    Similar

    There is nothing in the concept of a mere possibile that demands its n...78%The necessity of a condition does not entail its sufficiency.78%Bramhall's definition makes sense only if necessitation involves force...78%There is no thing that is not dependently arisen.78%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: anscombe
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    And yet, if the bomb explodes it was caused by the Geiger counter arrangement. Causation thus does not involve determination or necessity. Since the radioactive decay was not sufficient for this effect, the case tells against viewing causes as sufficient conditions. There need be no general connection between cause and effect. This challenge to the Humean account would turn out to be very influential – it helped push philosophers towards the development of probabilistic accounts of causation to
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit