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Probable Causes And The Distinction Between Subjective And Objective Chance, Stuart M. Glennan
Probable Causes And The Distinction Between Subjective And Objective Chance, Stuart M. Glennan
Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS
In this paper I present both a critical appraisal of Humphreys' probabilistic theory of causality and a sketch of an alternative view of the relationship between the notions of probability and of cause. Though I do not doubt that determinism is false, I claim that the examples used to motivate Humphreys' theory typically refer to subjective rather than objective chance. Additionally, I argue on a number of grounds that Humphreys' suggestion that linear regression models be used as a canonical form for the description of causal relations is untenable. I conclude by exploring the variety of ways in which probabilistic …