Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    The sergeant's command has some degree of influence on th... — Carmelics
    Home/Causation
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Part of a larger discussion

    Challenges→The new counterfactual theory of causation does not handle trumping completely satisfactorily

    The sergeant's command has some degree of influence on the soldiers' advance because if the sergeant had shouted earlier than the major with a different command, the soldiers would have obeyed his order

    Causation
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.

    No one has weighed in yet. Be the first to share reasons for or against this statement.

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Topics

    Causation

    Key Terms

    Causation (or causal influence)(as used in metaphysics and philosophy of science)
    When one thing directly makes another thing happen. The statement is asking whether the sergeant's command actually *caused* the soldiers to advance, or if something else would have made them advance anyway.
    counterfactual(Modal logic and epistemology)
    A conditional statement concerning what would be the case if some antecedent condition were true, evaluated across possible worlds; contraposition does not hold in general for counterfactuals.
    degree of influence(Lewis's revised counterfactual framework)
    The extent to which altering an event counterfactually would alter the effect, used as a measure of causal relevance within Lewis's new theory

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Browse more in Causation
    Related propositions within the same area of thought.

    Related

    Lewis must dismiss these counterfactual dependencies as too distant, but no prin...Similar alterations of the major's command are treated as relevant to the major'...The new counterfactual theory of causation does not handle trumping completely s...

    Similar

    In the trumping pre-emption scenario, the Major's orders have causal p...72%Similar alterations of the major's command are treated as relevant to ...68%The advance quasi-depends on the Sergeant's orders, because in a world...66%If Mellor's account is right, perception of precedence involves short-...61%

    Source

    AI-extracted
    SEP: causation-counterfactual
    View source passageHide passage
    There is, however, some reason for scepticism about whether the new theory handles the examples of late preemption and trumping completely satisfactorily. In the example of late preemption, Billy’s throw has some degree of influence on the shattering of the bottle. For if Billy had thrown his rock earlier (so that it preceded Suzy’s throw) and in a different manner, the bottle would have shattered earlier and in a different manner. Likewise, the sergeant’s command has some degree of influence on

    Details

    Type
    premise
    Perspectives
    0 (0 for, 0 against)
    Edits
    1 edit

    Open for perspectives

    This idea is waiting for its first supporting or challenging perspective.

    Share the first perspective