Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T15:59:21.465Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Toward a Synthesis of Deterministic and Probabilistic Formulations of Causal Relations by the Functional Relation Concept

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Stanley A. Mulaik
Stanley A. Mulaik*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There have been two principal paradigms for the formulation of the causal relation–logical implication and functional relationship. In this paper, I present a case for preferring the functional relationship formulation and then discuss how the functional relationship formulation may be implemented in the probabilistic case in a manner analogous to the way others have implemented the logical implication formulation in the probabilistic case. I show how the “local independence” assumption found in many models used in the behavioral and social sciences is a consequence of the functional relation concept of probabilistic causality. I also discuss why causal relations are underdetermined in experience and are to be dealt with pragmatically in a hypothesis-testing framework.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , September 1986 , pp. 313 - 332
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aune, B. (1970), Rationalism, Empiricism, and Pragmatism. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Anderson, T. W. (1954), “On estimation of parameters in latent structure analysis,” Psychometrika 19: 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, T. W. (1955), “Some recent results in latent structure analysis,” in Proceedings of the 1954 invitational conference on testing problems. Princeton: Educational Testing Service, pp. 49–53.Google Scholar
Anderson, T. W. (1959), “Some scaling models and estimation procedures in the latent class model,” in Probability and Statistics, O. Grenander (ed.), The Harold Cramer Volume. New York: Wiley, pp. 9–38.Google Scholar
Bunge, M. O. (1979), Causality and Modern Science. New York: Dover, 3rd ed. (First published 1959.)Google Scholar
Burks, A. W. (1951), “The logic of causal propositions,” Mind 60: 363–82.Google Scholar
Byerly, H. (1973), A Primer of Logic. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Cartwright, N. (1979), “Causal Laws and Effective Strategies”, Noûs 13: 419–37. (Also in How the Laws of Physics Lie. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 21–43, 1983.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, D. (1967), “Causal relations”, Journal of Philosophy 64: 691–703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duhem, P. (1954), The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory. Trans. P. P. Wiener. Princeton: Princeton University Press. (First published 1914.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eells, E., and Sober, E. (1983) “Probabilistic causality and the question of transitivity”, Philosophy of Science 50: 35–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehring, D. (1984), “Probabilistic Causality and Preemption”, British Journal of the Philosophy of Science 35: 55–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feyerabend, P. K. (1970), “Classical empiricism”, in The Methodological Heritage of Newton, Butts, R. E. and Davis, J. W., (eds.). Toronto: The University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Feyerabend, P. K. (1981), Realism, Rationalism, and Scientific Method. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillies, D. A. (1973), An objective Theory of Probability. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Heise, D. R. (1975), Causal Analysis. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Hempel, C. (1965), Aspects of Scientific Explanation. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Hesslow, G. (1978), “Two notes on the probabilistic approach to causality”, Philosophy of Science 43: 290–92.Google Scholar
Hesslow, G. (1981), “Causality and Determinism”, Philosophy of Science 48: 591–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hume, D. (1977), An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Sternberg, E. (ed.). Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Co. (Originally published 1748.)Google Scholar
Iosifescu, M. (1980), Finite Markov Processes and Their Applications. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
James, L. R.; Mulaik, S. A.; and Brett, J. M. (1982), Causal Analysis: Assumptions, Models and Data. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Lazarsfeld, P. F., and Henry, N. W. (1968), Latent Structure Analysis. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.Google Scholar
Lenzen, V. F. (1954), Causality in Natural Science. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas Publisher.Google Scholar
Lord, F. M., and Novick, M. R. (1968), Statistical Theories of Mental Test Scores. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Mulaik, S. A. (1985), “Exploratory Statistics and Empiricism”, Philosophy of Science 52: 410–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Otte, R. (1981), “A Critique of Suppes' Theory of Probabilistic Causality”, Synthese 48: 167–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, K. (1911), The Grammar of Science. London: Adam and Charles Black.Google Scholar
Rosen, D. A. (1978) “Discussion: In Defense of a Probabilistic Theory of Causality”, Philosophy of Science 45: 604–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salmon, W. C. (1977), “Statistical explanation”, in Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance, Salmon, W. (ed.) Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Salmon, W. C. (1984), Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Shapiro, J. M., and Whitney, D. R. (1967), Elementary Analysis and Statistics. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Simon, H. A. (1953), “Causal Ordering and Identifiability”, in Studies in Econometric Method, Hood, W. C. and Koopmans, T. C. (eds.), New York: Wiley, pp. 49–74. (Also in H. A. Simon (1977), pp. 53–80.)Google Scholar
Simon, H. A. (1977), Models of Discovery. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, H. A., and Rescher, N. (1966), “Cause and Counterfactual”, Philosophy of Science 33: 323–40. (Also in H. A. Simon (1977), pp. 107–31.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skyrms, B. (1975), Choice and Chance. Encino, California: Dickenson Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Skyrms, B. (1980), Causal Necessity. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Spohn, W. (1980), “Stochastic Independence, Causal Independence, and Shieldability”, Journal of Philosophical Logic 9: 73–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suppes, P. (1970), A Probabilistic Theory of Causality. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Suppes, P. (1975), “A Probabilistic Analysis of Causality”, in Quantitative Sociology, Blalock, H. M., Aganbegian, A., Borodkin, F. M., Boudon, R. and Capecchi, V. (eds.). New York: Academic Press pp. 49–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suppes, P. (1984), Probabilistic Metaphysics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Watanabe, S. (1969), Knowing and Guessing. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. (1975), Philosophical Remarks. R. Rhees (ed.) and R. Hargreaves and R. White (trans.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar