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    If both an event and its prevention equally count as caus... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Both tossing the coin and preventing the toss may backwardly cause Houdini's earlier behavior

    If both an event and its prevention equally count as causes, causal explanation loses its contrastive and discriminatory function entirely.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Causal explanation's purpose is to distinguish what makes a difference. If absences count equally as presences, nothing is distinguished.
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    • 2.Practical causal reasoning requires picking out actionable factors. Preventing events doesn't guide intervention the way positive causes do.
      ?

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    • 3.Infinite preventions exist for any event (gravity didn't prevent it, unicorns didn't stop it). Including all makes explanation uninformative.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Prevention can be an active cause: a vaccine prevents disease through positive mechanism, not mere absence. Type matters, not cause-prevention dichotomy.
      ?

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    • 2.Context determines relevance, not metaphysical status. Whether we cite presence or absence depends on explanatory interests, not logical collapse.
      ?

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    • 3.Contrastive function survives by comparing alternatives (event vs. non-event) regardless of whether causes are positive or negative factors.
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    Connections

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    Causation1 linkedModality & Possibility1 linked

    Related

    Both tossing the coin and preventing the toss may backwardly cause Houdini's ear...Causal explanation's purpose is to distinguish what makes a difference. If absen...Context determines relevance, not metaphysical status. Whether we cite presence ...Contrastive function survives by comparing alternatives (event vs. non-event) re...
    +3 moreShow less
    Infinite preventions exist for any event (gravity didn't prevent it, unicorns di...Practical causal reasoning requires picking out actionable factors. Preventing e...Prevention can be an active cause: a vaccine prevents disease through positive m...

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