Illari, Phyllis; Russo, Federica; (2024) The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Causal Production: The Prospects of Variation to Trace the Transmission of Information. In: Shan, Yafeng, (ed.) Alternative Approaches to Causation: Beyond Difference-making and Mechanism Alternative Approaches to Causation: Beyond Difference-making and Mechanism. (pp. 153-174). Oxford University Press (OUP): Oxford, UK.

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Abstract

In the sciences and in everyday talk, language is replete with cases in which we, epistemic agents, are interested in how causes produce effects, in a variety of contexts and situations. In this chapter, the authors develop the account of causal production as information transmission which they initially presented in previous work. Specifically, in this contribution they explain the role of causal production within the ‘mosaic’ of causal theory, and how a metaphysics for causal production as information transmission is in need of a set of epistemological strategies to trace whether information is transmitted or not; such epistemological strategies can be in terms of ‘variation’ as well as ‘information transmission’. The authors explain the ‘ontoepistemological’ combination of information transmission and of variation with the aid of four episodes of causal production.

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