Advances in Experimental Philosophy of Causation

Description

What is the connection between causation and responsibility? Is there a best way to theorize philosophically about causation? Which factors determine and influence what we judge to be the cause of something? Bringing together interdisciplinary research from experimental philosophy, traditional philosophy and psychology, this collection showcases the most recent developments and approaches to questions about causation. Chapters discuss the diverse theoretical ramifications of empirical findings in experimental philosophy of causation, providing a comprehensive survey of key issues such as the perception and learning of causal relations, omission, normative considerations, mechanism, voluntariness and legal theories of causation. With novel contributions from both experts and rising stars, Advances in Experimental Philosophy of Causation demonstrates the value of empirical work and opens new domains of inquiry at the cutting edge of the field. Cover Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Illustrations Tables List of Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction Pascale Willemsen and Alex Wiegmann Chapter outlines 1 Revisiting Hume in the Twenty-first Century: The Possibility of Generalizable Causal Beliefs Given Inherently Unobservable Causal Relations Nicholas Ichien and Patricia W. Cheng Three confusions clouding the nature of the problem of causal induction Four perspectives in support of the unobservability of causal relations (Hume, 1739/1987) Causal invariance as a rational constraint on causal induction Terminology and background information Estimates of causal strength depend on the assumed decomposition function Are causal strengths inferred without the iid assumption generalizable? Is logical inconsistency a problem for generalized linear models? Acknowledgments Notes References 2 Mysteries of Actual Causation: It’s Complicated James Woodward 1 Introduction 2 Framework and background 3 The place of actual causation 4 Causal selection 5 Structural equations and formal models of actual causation 6 Problems with AC: Normality, elections and other scenarios 7 Normality, causal selection and actual causal contribution 8 Actual causal contribution 9 Features distinguishing actual causal contribution and some additional illustrations 10 Some methodological reflections 11 What might be the function of the actual contribution notion? 12 Conclusion Notes References 3 Juggling Intuitions about Causation and Omissions Carolina Sartorio* 1 Introduction 2 Introducing cases of omission and overdetermination 3 The resilience of moral responsibility and the flexibility of grounding intuitions 4 A special challenge: asymmetric omission cases 5 Conclusions Notes References 4 Causal Perception and Causal Inference: An Integrated Account David Danks and Phuong (Phoebe) Ngoc Dinh A brief argument for causal pluralism Methodological challenges to causal pluralism The empirical case for a unitary account Alternatives to causal pluralism: two grounding accounts References Causal monism: A new alternative to causal pluralism Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References 5 The Interplay between Covariation, Temporal, and Mechanism Information in Singular Causation Judgments Simon Stephan and Michael R. Waldmann The role of causal strength information in singular causation judgments—the standard power PC model of causal attribution Causal preemption—the generalized power PC model of singular causation judgments The role of temporal relations The role of mechanism information Summary, open questions, and directions for future research Notes References 6 Cause, “Cause,” and Norm1 John Schwenkler and Eric Sievers 1 Introduction 2 Experiments 3. Discussion Notes References 7 The Responsibility Account Justin Sytsma 1 Context 2 Causal judgments 3 Norms 4 Rank ordering compound statements 5 Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References 8 Causation in the Law and Experimental Philosophy1 Karolina Prochownik 1 Introduction 2 Causation in the law 3 Norms and causes: Different psychological models and their explanatory power for the causation in the law 4 Challenges and limitations of the experimental philosophy research for the legal theories of causation Acknowledgments Notes References 9 Children and Adults Don’t Think They Are Free: A Skeptical Look at Agent Causationism Lukas S. Huber, Kevin Reuter, and Trix Cacchione 1 Introduction 2 Study 1: Children and agent causationism 3 Study 2: Adults and agent causationism 4 General discussion 5 Conclusion Acknowledgement Notes References Index