Interpreting Causality in the Health Sciences
Top Cited Papers
- 1 July 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in International Studies in the Philosophy of Science
- Vol. 21 (2), 157-170
- https://doi.org/10.1080/02698590701498084
Abstract
We argue that the health sciences make causal claims on the basis of evidence both of physical mechanisms, and of probabilistic dependencies. Consequently, an analysis of causality solely in terms of physical mechanisms or solely in terms of probabilistic relationships, does not do justice to the causal claims of these sciences. Yet there seems to be a single relation of cause in these sciences—pluralism about causality will not do either. Instead, we maintain, the health sciences require a theory of causality that unifies its mechanistic and probabilistic aspects. We argue that the epistemic theory of causality provides the required unification.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- Causality and the Interpretation of Epidemiologic EvidenceEnvironmental Health Perspectives, 2006
- Targeting the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in Colorectal Cancer: Advances and ControversiesOncology, 2006
- Familiäre Brustkrebserkrankung: klinische Grundlagen und FrüherkennungRöFo - Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Röntgenstrahlen und der bildgebenden Verfahren, 2006
- Hempelian and Kuhnian approaches in the philosophy of medicine: the Semmelweis caseStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 2005
- How Does It Work?Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 2004
- Lung cancer risk in germline p53 mutation carriers: association between an inherited cancer predisposition, cigarette smoking, and cancer riskHuman Genetics, 2003
- Mind and cancer: do psychological factors cause cancer?European Journal of Cancer, 2002
- Physical CausationPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2000
- Lung Cancer and Cigarettes?Nature, 1958
- Dangers of Cigarette-smokingBMJ, 1957