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SUMMARY:Causal assessment and the question of stability - Feredica Russo (
 Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
DTSTART:20131114T163000Z
DTEND:20131114T180000Z
UID:TALK47660@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Helen Curry
DESCRIPTION:Causal assessment is the problem of establishing whether a rel
 ation between (variable) X and (variable) Y is causal. This problem\, to b
 e sure\, is widespread across the sciences. According to the 'received vie
 w'\, invariance under intervention provides the crucial test to decide whe
 ther X causes Y. This account of invariance has been criticised\, among ot
 her reasons\, because it makes manipulations on the putative causal factor
 s fundamental. Consequently\, the account is ill suited to those contexts 
 where manipulations are not performed\, for instance the social sciences. 
 In this talk\, I explain why stability is an important feature of causal r
 elations (in social contexts and elsewhere). I then discuss how to extend 
 the received account of invariance\, in a way that manipulations on the pu
 tative causal factors are not methodologically fundamental\, and yet invar
 iance remains key for causal assessment.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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