"If you'd wiggled A, then B would've changed" Causality and counterfactual conditionals
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 03-2011 |
| Journal | Synthese |
| Volume | Issue number | 179 | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 239-251 |
| Organisations |
|
| Abstract |
This paper deals with the truth conditions of conditional sentences. It focuses on a particular class of problematic examples for semantic theories for these sentences. I will argue that the examples show the need to refer to dynamic, in particular causal laws in an approach to their truth conditions. More particularly, I will claim that we need a causal notion of consequence. The proposal subsequently made uses a representation of causal dependencies as proposed in Pearl (2000) to formalize a causal notion of consequence. This notion inserted in premise semantics for counterfactuals in the style of Veltman (1976) and Kratzer (1979) will provide a new interpretation rule for conditionals. I will illustrate how this approach overcomes problems of previous proposals and end with some remarks on remaining questions.
|
| Document type | Article |
| Note | In special issue: Logic and philosophy of science in the footsteps of E. W. Beth. |
| Language | English |
| Published at | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-010-9780-9 |
| Downloads |
If you'd wiggled A, then B would've changed
(Accepted author manuscript)
Schulz2011_Article_IfYouDWiggledAThenBWouldVeChan
(Final published version)
|
| Permalink to this page | |
