Modeling causal processes.

We offer a category-theoretic representation of the process theory of causality. The new formalism allows process theorists to (i) explicate their explanatory strategies (etiological and constitutive explanations) using the compositional features of string diagrams; (ii) probabilistically evaluate c...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Synthese Vol. 206; no. 2; pp. 1 - 26
Autores principales: Otsuka, Jun, Hayashi, Tomoyuki, Yoshii, Tatsuya, Saigo, Hayato
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Aug2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=187081526&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 187081526
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00397857
        4LI
      jtl: Synthese
      issn: 00397857
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Aug2025
      vid: 206
      iid: 2
      pid: 237
      pub: Springer Nature
    artinfo:
      ui:
        187081526
        10.1007/s11229-025-05084-6
      ppf: 1
      ppct: 25
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
              size: 2.6MB
      tig:
        atl: Modeling causal processes.
      aug:
        au:
          Otsuka, Jun
          Hayashi, Tomoyuki
          Yoshii, Tatsuya
          Saigo, Hayato
        affil:
          https://ror.org/02kvbt343 Faculty of Social Informatics, Zen University, Kanagawa, Japan
          https://ror.org/02kpeqv85 Department of Philosophy, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
      sug:
      keyword:
        Bayesian Networks
        Category theory
        Principle of common cause
        Process theory of causality
        String diagrams
      ab: We offer a category-theoretic representation of the process theory of causality. The new formalism allows process theorists to (i) explicate their explanatory strategies (etiological and constitutive explanations) using the compositional features of string diagrams; (ii) probabilistically evaluate causal effects through the categorical notion of functor; (iii) address the problem of explanatory irrelevance via diagram surgery; and (iv) provide a theoretical explanation for the difference between conjunctive and interactive forks. We also claim that the fundamental building blocks of the process theory—namely processes, interactions, and events—can be modeled using three types of morphisms. Overall, categorical modeling demonstrates that the philosophical theory of process causality possesses scientific rigor and expressive power comparable to those of its event-based counterparts, such as causal Bayes nets.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: Synthese is a copyright of Springer, 2025. All Rights Reserved.
      item: Synthese
      holder: Springer Nature
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2025
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N