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    Judith Jarvis Thomson's counterfactual analysis holds tha... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→When coincidences intervene in a causal chain, earlier acts in that chain are not considered proximate causes of the resulting harm.

    Judith Jarvis Thomson's counterfactual analysis holds that causal relevance is preserved whenever removing the earlier act would eliminate the harm.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Counterfactual dependence captures our intuition: an act causes harm only if that harm wouldn't occur absent the act.
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    • 2.This analysis avoids over-inclusion by excluding acts that merely provide background conditions for independently-caused harms.
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    • 3.The but-for test aligns with legal and moral responsibility, where we typically hold agents liable only for actual consequences of their choices.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Counterfactual dependence is too broad: many causal chains satisfy it despite the agent bearing no responsibility for the outcome.
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    • 2.Cases of causal overdetermination show harm would occur even if one act were removed, yet that act remains causally relevant.
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    • 3.The analysis misses cases where an agent negligently enables harm through indirect means; removal eliminates harm, but doesn't capture true culpability.
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    Related

    Cases of causal overdetermination show harm would occur even if one act were rem...Counterfactual dependence captures our intuition: an act causes harm only if tha...Counterfactual dependence is too broad: many causal chains satisfy it despite th...The analysis misses cases where an agent negligently enables harm through indire...
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    The but-for test aligns with legal and moral responsibility, where we typically ...This analysis avoids over-inclusion by excluding acts that merely provide backgr...When coincidences intervene in a causal chain, earlier acts in that chain are no...

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