RUNNING HEAD: Causal models A philosophical investigation of causal interpretation in structural equation models

This paper is a brief overview and evaluation of current mathematical/statistical causal models, including the structural equation model (SEM), TETRAD, and the graphical model. The efficacy of these approaches will be discussed in the philosophical context of the Duhem-Quine thesis, realism, simplicity, identifiability (testability), empirical adequacy, and probabilistic causality. The emphasis of this paper is on the philosophical aspect, not the mathematical or computational aspect of SEM, nonetheless, readers are not required to have a philosophical background to follow the arguments.