김세화 교수의 반론과 활성 경로 이론의 제한 및 확장

Abstract

The idea that an effect counterfactually depends on its cause is simple and intuitive. However, this simple idea runs into various difficulties. The active route account, in order to avoid the difficulties, analyzes causation in terms of counterfactual dependence under certain control. In her recent article, Seahwa Kim criticizes Sungsu Kim’s earlier attempt to defend the active route account from its counterexamples. Her criticisms are convincing, and defenders of the active route account or counterfactual analysis of causation in general need another defense. In response, a two-step defense is proposed. First, the scope of the active route account is restricted to ‘proximate’ causal relation. Second, a control over factors that are in proximate causal relation is offered to figure out ‘distant’ causal relation. The result is that with proper control, an effect indeed counterfactually depends on its cause.