Absence and Abnormality

Absences pose a dilemma for theories of causation. Allowing them to be causes seems to make theories too permissive. Banning them from being causes seems to make theories too restrictive. An increasingly popular approach to this dilemma is to acknowledge that norms can affect which absences count as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnalysis (Oxford) Vol. 83; no. 1; pp. 98 - 106
Main Author Vaassen, Bram
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 11.08.2023
Subjects
Abnormality
Absence
Causation
Counterfactual Dependence
Norm
Normativity
Omission
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ISSN0003-2638
1467-8284
1467-8284
DOI10.1093/analys/anac030

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Summary:Absences pose a dilemma for theories of causation. Allowing them to be causes seems to make theories too permissive. Banning them from being causes seems to make theories too restrictive. An increasingly popular approach to this dilemma is to acknowledge that norms can affect which absences count as causes. In this article, I distinguish between two influential implementations of such ‘abnormality’ approaches and argue that so-called ‘double-prevention mechanisms’ provide counterexamples against both.
ISSN:0003-2638
1467-8284
1467-8284
DOI:10.1093/analys/anac030