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CausalClaims L06

A causal claim asserts that there is a relationship between two events where one is the cause of the other. Causal claims do not always explicitly use the word "cause" but rather can imply causation through language like "led to." There are different types of causal relationships including causal chains where one event leads to another, which leads to another. Contributory causes involve multiple simultaneous causes producing an effect by working together. Interactive causes involve reciprocal influences where factors influence and are influenced by each other. When making causal claims, common errors include ignoring a common cause, assuming a common cause when there may not be one, and reversing causation by mistaking an effect for a cause.

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59 views15 pages

CausalClaims L06

A causal claim asserts that there is a relationship between two events where one is the cause of the other. Causal claims do not always explicitly use the word "cause" but rather can imply causation through language like "led to." There are different types of causal relationships including causal chains where one event leads to another, which leads to another. Contributory causes involve multiple simultaneous causes producing an effect by working together. Interactive causes involve reciprocal influences where factors influence and are influenced by each other. When making causal claims, common errors include ignoring a common cause, assuming a common cause when there may not be one, and reversing causation by mistaking an effect for a cause.

Uploaded by

Aimi Farhana Isman
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Causal Claims

What is Causal Claim?

• A causal claim is one that asserts that there is a relationship between


two events such that one is the effect of the other.
• A causal claim takes the form of "x causes y," with x referring to the
cause and y referring to the effect.
• A causal argument provides the premises to support a conclusion about
a cause and effect relationship.
Causal Claims

• Causal claims can take a variety of forms, many of which do not use
the term “cause”.
• For example, when we see a friend that seemed less talkative recently,
and we wonder why.
Is it the combination of
- is she physically sick? two?
- is she troubled emotionally?
• In other words, these things are possible causes of her behaviour.
• Note that we don’t always use the term “cause” even when we mean
it.
• I.e. if we say that the ice on the road led to the accident.
• “led to” has the same meaning as “cause” in this claim.
• Again, essential to a causal claim is a relationship between two
events such that one is the effect of the other

Please think of a causal claim that either you have


made recently or that someone has made to you
Exercise
Explain the causal relationship for each activity:

1) Brushing your teeth.


2) Locking the door.
3) Studying for an exam.
Types of Causal Relationship

• Although you tend to think of causes and eff ects in isolation—A caused
B—in reality causes and eff ects rarely appear by themselves.
• Causes and effects generally appear as parts of more complex patterns,
including three that we will examine here:
i. Causal Chain
ii. Contributory Causes
iii. Interactive causes
Causal Chain
Consider the following scenario:
Your paper on the topic “Is there life after death?” is due on Monday morning. You have
reserved the whole weekend to work on it and are just getting started when the phone
rings—your best friend from childhood is in town and wants to stay with you for the
weekend. You say yes. By Sunday night, you’ve had a great weekend but have made
little progress on your paper. You begin writing, when suddenly you feel stomach
cramps—it must have been those raw oysters that you had for lunch! Th ree hours later,
you are ready to continue work. You brew a pot of coff ee and get started. At 3:00 a.m.
you are too exhausted to continue. You decide to get a few hours of sleep and set the
alarm clock for 6:00 a.m., giving you plenty of time to fi nish up. When you wake up,
you fi nd that it’s 9:00 a.m.—the alarm failed to go off ! Your class starts in forty
minutes, and you have no chance of getting the paper done on time. As you ride to
school, you go over the causes for this disaster in your mind.
As you can see from the example, causal chain is a situation in which
one thing leads to another, which then leads to another and so on.
There is not just one cause for the resulting effect; there is a whole
string of causes
Contributory Causes

• Causes can act simultaneously to produce an effect


• When this happens, you have a situation in which a number of
different causes are instrumental in bringing something about
• Instead of working in isolation, each cause contributes to bringing
about the final effect.
• When this situation occurs, each cause serves to support and reinforce
the action of the other causes.
Consider the following situation:
It is the end of the term, and you have been working incredibly hard at
school—writing papers, preparing for exams, finishing up course projects.
You haven’t been getting enough sleep, and you haven’t been eating
regular or well-balanced meals. To make matters worse, you have been
under intense pressure in your personal life, having serious arguments
with your parents. You find that this situation is constantly on your mind.
It is also the middle of the flu season, and many of the people you know
have been sick with various bugs. Walking home from school one
evening, you get soaked by an unexpected shower. By the time you get
home, you are shivering. You soon find yourself in bed with a
thermometer in your mouth—you are sick!
Interactive Causes
• Causal relationships has revealed that causes rarely operate in isolation but
instead of influence (and are influenced by) other factors.
• For example, the situation when you have to give a speech and suddenly
you get anxious, with a dry mouth and throat, it makes your voice sound
like a croak.
• This is not uncommon scenario reveals the way different factors can relate
to one another through reciprocal influences that flow back and forth from
one to the other.
• This type of causal relationship, which involves an interactive thinking
pattern, is an extremely important way to organize and make sense of your
experiences.
Typical Errors in Causal Reasoning
• There are many ways to make errors in causal reasoning. These are
the most typical:
a. Ignoring a common cause
Sometimes we mistakenly identify one event as the cause of another
without recognizing that they both may be the effect of a common cause.
If I stay up watching television until one o’clock instead of studying for
an exam, and then I do poorly on the exam, I might say that my fatigue
caused me to do badly on the exam. In fact there, is a common cause,
watching television that caused me to stay up late and to do poorly on
the exam.
b. Assuming a common cause
We can also make errors in causal reasoning when we look too hard for
a common cause.
Imagine that on my way to work I receive a speeding ticket, and later
in the day, I fall and sprain my ankle. When I get home I am informed
that I had a check to bounce. Then I remember that I saw a black cat
the day before and conclude that it must be true that they bring bad
luck.
c. Reversed causation
Another typical error in reasoning about cause and effects is to
mistake the cause for the effect and the effect for the cause.
For example, if I argue that spending more money on education will
improve the economy because after all the countires that spend the
most on education have the strongest economies, I may have reversed
the cause and effect. It may be that nations with the strongest
economies are able to spend more money on education.

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