Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-30T04:10:08.094Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How Everyone Can Have a Rare Property: Response to Sober on Frequency-Dependent Causation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Deborah G. Mayo
Deborah G. Mayo*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In a recent discussion note Sober (1985) elaborates on the argument given in Sober (1982) to show the inadequacy of Ronald Giere's (1979, 1980) causal model for cases of frequency-dependent causation, and denies that Giere's (1984) response avoids the problem he raises. I argue that frequency-dependent effects do not pose a problem for Giere's original causal model, and that all parties in this dispute have been guity of misinterpreting the counterfactual populations involved in applying Giere's model.

Type
Discussion
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 54 , Issue 2 , June 1987 , pp. 266 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

I am deeply grateful to Ronald Giere for valuable discussions. I thank Norman Gilinsky and George Chatfield for useful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

References

REFERENCES

Collier, J. (1983), “Frequency-Dependent Causation: A Defense of Giere”, Philosophy of Science 50: 618–625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giere, R. (1979), Understanding Scientific Reasoning. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.Google Scholar
Giere, R. (1980), “Causal Systems and Statistical Hypotheses”, in Cohen, L. J. (ed.), Applications of Inductive Logic. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 251–270.Google Scholar
Giere, R. (1984), “Causal Models with Frequency Dependence”, Journal of Philosophy 79: 384–391.Google Scholar
Mayo, D. (1986), “Understanding Frequency-Dependent Causation”, Philosophical Studies 49: 109–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sober, E. (1982), “Frequency Dependent Causation”, Journal of Philosophy 79: 247–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sober, E. (1984), The Nature of Selection. Cambridge: Bradford/MIT Press.Google Scholar
Sober, E. (1985), “What Would Happen if Everyone Did it? A Reply to Collier and Giere on Frequency-Dependent Causation”, Philosophy of Science 52: 141–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar