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    Degree of explanation

    Northcott, Robert (2012) Degree of explanation. Synthese , ISSN 0039-7857.

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    Abstract

    Partial explanations are everywhere. That is, explanations citing causes that explain some but not all of an effect are ubiquitous across science, and these in turn rely on the notion of degree of explanation. I argue that current accounts are seriously deficient. In particular, they do not incorporate adequately the way in which a cause’s explanatory importance varies with choice of explanandum. Using influential recent contrastive theories, I develop quantitative definitions that remedy this lacuna, and relate it to existing measures of degree of causation. Among other things, this reveals the precise role here of chance, as well as bearing on the relation between causal explanation and causation itself.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Additional Information: The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): Causation, Explanation, Explanandum-dependence, Degree of explanation, Causal strength, Probability
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies
    Depositing User: Robert Northcott
    Date Deposited: 31 Jul 2012 11:46
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 16:58
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/4995

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