Causation in perspective. Reflections on the perspective-relativity of the truth value of causal judgments

old_uid9624
titleCausation in perspective. Reflections on the perspective-relativity of the truth value of causal judgments
start_date2011/02/04
schedule14h-16h
onlineno
summaryIn a paper ‘Causation in Context’ (2007) Peter Menzies has argued that that the truth-value of causal judgments is perspective-relative (i.e, their truth value does not depend entirely in mind-independent structures). His arguments are confined to causation as difference making (a term he uses to cover probabilistic, counterfactual and regularity views of causation). In this paper I first briefly present Menzies’ arguments. Then I investigate whether perspective-relativity also holds for causation in the sense of process theories. In the third part of the paper I go deeper into the different ways in which the truth-value of causal claims can be perspective-relative. In the fourth part I ask whether perspective-relativity poses a thread of relativism. Finally, I sketch the metaphysical consequences of perspective-relativity.
responsiblesDrouet, Martin