2009•The MonistRequires access

Absences, Possible Causation, and the Problem of Non-Locality

Phil Dowe

Open publisher page 40 citations

Abstract

I argue that so-called ‘absence causation’ must be treated in terms of counterfactuals about causation such as ‘had a occurred, a would have caused b’. First, I argue that some theories of causation that accept absence causation are unattractive because they undermine the idea of possible causation. And second, I argue that accepting absence causation violates a principle commonly associated with relativity.

About this research paper

What this paper is about

I argue that so-called ‘absence causation’ must be treated in terms of counterfactuals about causation such as ‘had a occurred, a would have caused b’. First, I argue that some theories of causation that accept absence causation are unattractive because they undermine the idea of possible causation. And second, I argue that accepting absence causation violates a principle commonly associated with relativity.

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OpenAlex reports 40 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

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Available abstract

I argue that so-called ‘absence causation’ must be treated in terms of counterfactuals about causation such as ‘had a occurred, a would have caused b’. First, I argue that some theories of causation that accept absence causation are unattractive because they undermine the idea of possible causation. And second, I argue that accepting absence causation violates a principle commonly associated with relativity.

Key concepts: Causation, Counterfactual conditional, Locality, Epistemology, Philosophy, Psychology, Counterfactual thinking, Linguistics

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