A Modification of the Halpern-Pearl Definition of Causality
نویسنده
چکیده
The original Halpern-Pearl definition of causality [Halpern and Pearl, 2001] was updated in the journal version of the paper [Halpern and Pearl, 2005] to deal with some problems pointed out by Hopkins and Pearl [2003]. Here the definition is modified yet again, in a way that (a) leads to a simpler definition, (b) handles the problems pointed out by Hopkins and Pearl, and many others, (c) gives reasonable answers (that agree with those of the original and updated definition) in the standard problematic examples of causality, and (d) has lower complexity than either the original or updated definitions.
منابع مشابه
The Computational Complexity of Structure-Based Causality
Halpern and Pearl introduced a definition of actual causality; Eiter and Lukasiewicz showed that computing whether X = x is a cause of Y = y is NP-complete in binary models (where all variables can take on only two values) and Σ2 -complete in general models. In the final version of their paper, Halpern and Pearl slightly modified the definition of actual cause, in order to deal with problems po...
متن کاملAppropriate Causal Models and Stability of Causation
Causal models defined in terms of structural equations have proved to be quite a powerful way of representing knowledge regarding causality. However, a number of authors have given examples that seem to show that the Halpern-Pearl (HP) definition of causality (Halpern & Pearl 2005) gives intuitively unreasonable answers. Here it is shown that, for each of these examples, we can give two stories...
متن کاملAppropriate Causal Models and the Stability of Causation
Causal models defined in terms of structural equations have proved to be quite a powerful way of representing knowledge regarding causality. However, a number of authors have given examples that seem to show that the Halpern-Pearl (HP) definition of causality [Halpern and Pearl 2005] gives intuitively unreasonable answers. Here it is shown that, for each of these examples, we can give two stori...
متن کاملDefaults and Normality in Causal Structures
A serious defect with the Halpern-Pearl (HP) definition of causality is repaired by combining a theory of causality with a theory of defaults. In addition, it is shown that (despite a claim to the contrary) a cause according to the HP condition need not be a single conjunct. A definition of causality motivated by Wright’s NESS test is shown to always hold for a single conjunct. Moreover, condit...
متن کاملA Proposed Probabilistic Extension of the Halpern and Pearl Definition of ‘Actual Cause’
Joseph Halpern and Judea Pearl ([2005]) draw upon structural equation models to develop an attractive analysis of 'actual cause'. Their analysis is designed for the case of deterministic causation. I show that their account can be naturally extended to provide an elegant treatment of probabilistic causation. 1Introduction2Preemption3Structural Equation Models4The Halpern and Pearl Definition of...
متن کامل