On the Limits of Causal Modeling: Spatially-Structurally Complex Biological Phenomena.

This article examines the adequacy of causal graph theory as a tool for modeling biological phenomena. I argue that the causal graph approach reaches its limits when it comes to modeling biological phenomena that involve complex spatial and chemical-structural relations. Using a case study from mole...

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Publicado en:Philosophy of Science Vol. 83; no. 5; pp. 921 - 934
Autor principal: Kaiser, Marie I.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Cambridge University Press Dec2016
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: On the Limits of Causal Modeling: Spatially-Structurally Complex Biological Phenomena.
      aug:
        au: Kaiser, Marie I.
        affil:
          This paper arose from a collaboration with Marcel Weber during my time at the University of Geneva, and it profited much from our stimulating discussions. I also thank Benjamin Jantzen, Christopher Hitchcock, Lorenzo Casini, Alexander Gebharter, Maximilian Huber, and the members of my DFG Research Group "Causation and Explanation" for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the paper. This material is based on work supported by the German Research Foundation.
          To contact the author, please write to: Philosophisches Seminar, Universität zu Köln, Richard-Strauß-Str. 2, 50931 Köln, Germany
      su:
        Causal models
        Spatial data structures
        Graph theory
        Bayesian analysis
        Causation (Philosophy)
      sug:
        subj:
          Causal models
          Spatial data structures
          Graph theory
          Bayesian analysis
          Causation (Philosophy)
      ab: This article examines the adequacy of causal graph theory as a tool for modeling biological phenomena. I argue that the causal graph approach reaches its limits when it comes to modeling biological phenomena that involve complex spatial and chemical-structural relations. Using a case study from molecular biology, I show why causal graph models fail to adequately represent and explain biological phenomena of this kind. The inadequacy of these models is due to their failure to include relevant spatial-structural information in a way that does not render the models nonexplanatory, unmanageable, or inconsistent with basic assumptions of causal graph theory.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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