Northcott, Robert (2008) Weighted explanations in history. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 38 (1), pp. 76-96. ISSN 0048-3931.
Abstract
Weighted explanations , whereby some causes are deemed more important than others, are ubiquitous in historical studies. Drawing from influential recent work on causation, I develop a definition of causal-explanatory strength. This makes clear exactly which aspects of explanatory weighting are subjective and which objective. It also sheds new light on several traditional issues, showing for instance that: underlying causes need not be more important than proximate ones; several different causes can each be responsible for most of an effect; small causes need not be less important than big ones; and non-additive interactive effects between causes present no particular difficulty.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | causation, explanation, history, interaction, proximate, underlying |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Depositing User: | Sarah Hall |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Nov 2014 15:11 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:13 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/11077 |
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