Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-jhf8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-06-01T09:31:31.976Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Causal dispositionalism in behaviour genetics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2023

María Cerezo Open the ORCID record for María Cerezo [Opens in a new window]
María Cerezo*
Affiliation:
Department of Logic and Theoretical Philosophy, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain macere03@ucm.es; https://philpeople.org/profiles/maria-cerezo
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Causal dispositionalism developed in metaphysics of science offers a useful tool to conceptualize shallow causes in behaviour genetics, in a way such that (a) it accounts for complex aetiology and heterogeneity of effects, and (b) genetic causal contribution can be considered to be explanatory. Genes are thus causal powers that make a difference.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e188
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Anjum, R. L., & Mumford, S. (2018). Causation in science and the methods of scientific discovery. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cartwright, N. (1989). Nature's capacities and their measurements. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cartwright, N. (2009). Causal laws, policy predictions and the need for genuine powers. In Handfield, T. (Ed.), Dispositions and causes (pp. 127–157). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cartwright, N. (2011). A philosopher's view of the long road from RCTs to effectiveness. The Lancet, 377, 1400–1401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craver, C. F., & Darden, L. (2013). In search of mechanisms: Discoveries across the life sciences. The University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glennan, S. S. (1996). Mechanisms and the nature of causation. Erkenntnis, 44, 49–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mumford, S. (1998). Dispositions. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mumford, S., & Anjum, R. L. (2011). Getting causes from powers. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rocca, E., & Anjum, R. L. (2020). Causal evidence and dispositions in medicine and public health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), 1813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waters, C. K. (2007). Causes that make a difference. The Journal of Philosophy, 104, 551–579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodward, J. (2005). Making things happen: A theory of causal explanation. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Woodward, J. (2010). Causation in biology: Stability, specificity, and the choice of levels of explanation. Biology & Philosophy, 25, 287–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar