Three Kinds of Causal Indeterminacy

Bibliographic Data

ID21293511
AuthorsVera Hoffmann-Kolss (0000-0001-5324-0559, University of Bern, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume103
Issue1
Pages261-276
Publication date2025-01-02
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralasian Journal of Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-8402 • E-ISSN: 1470-6828
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00048402.2024.2381120
OpenAlexW4401308430
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited32

The goal of this paper is to argue that there is indeterminacy in causation. I present three types of cases in which it is indeterminate whether an event c caused another event e: (1) cases of absence causation recently discussed by Bernstein and by Swanson, (2) cases leading to Sorites paradoxes for causation, and (3) cases where c and e occur in certain indeterministic causal structures and it is therefore indeterminate whether there is a causal relation between them. These cases, I argue, provide strong evidence that indeterminacy is an important general feature of the causal relation and that philosophical theorizing about causation should take this observation into account

Causation · Epistemology · Event (particle physics) · Indeterminacy (philosophy) · Indeterminate · Relation (database) · Computer Science · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Philosophy and Theoretical Science · Psychology

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