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Abstract Recent philosophical work on causation has focused on distinctions across types of causal relationships. This paper argues for another distinction that has yet to receive attention in this work. This distinction has to do with whether causal relationships have “material continuity,” which refers to the reliable movement of material from cause to effect. This paper provides an analysis of material continuity and argues that causal relationships with this feature (1) are associated with a unique explanatory perspective, (2) are studied with distinct causal investigative methods, and (3) provide different types of causal control over their effects.
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Irreversible (One-hit) and Reversible (Sustaining) Causation
This paper explores a distinction among causal relationships that has yet to receive attention in the philosophical literature, namely, whether causal relationships are reversible or irreversible. We provide an analysis of this distinction and show how it has important implications for causal inference and modeling. This work also clarifies how various familiar puzzles involving preemption and over-determination play out differently depending on whether the causation involved is reversible.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1945647
- PAR ID:
- 10322671
- Editor(s):
- Potochnik, Angela
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Philosophy of science
- ISSN:
- 0031-8248
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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