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Causation The Countefactual Theory. The Constant Conjunction Theory The Constant Conjunction Theory: Necessarily, for any events c and e, c is a cause.

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Presentation on theme: "Causation The Countefactual Theory. The Constant Conjunction Theory The Constant Conjunction Theory: Necessarily, for any events c and e, c is a cause."— Presentation transcript:

1 Causation The Countefactual Theory

2 The Constant Conjunction Theory The Constant Conjunction Theory: Necessarily, for any events c and e, c is a cause of e iff there are event kinds F and G, such that c is an F, e is a G, and every F- event is followed by a G-event. Objection #1: Lucky Conjunction Objection #2: Epiphenomena

3 Counterfactuals The Counterfactual Theory: Necessarily, for any events c and e, c is a cause of e iff, if c had not occurred, then e would not have occurred.

4 Counterfactuals The Counterfactual Theory: Necessarily, for any events c and e, c is a cause of e iff, if c had not occurred, then e would not have occurred. Objection #1: Causes vs. Conditions Objection #2: Overdetermination Objection #3: Preemption Objection #4: Chancy Causation Objection #5: Overlapping

5 Preemption e counterfactually depends on c iff e would not have occurred in the absence of c. e 1, e 2, …, e n is a chain of counterfactual dependence iff each member of the chain counterfactually depends on the previous member. The Revised Counterfactual Theory: Necessarily, for any events c and e, c is a cause of e iff there is a chain of counterfactual dependence from c to e.


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