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Caltech

Seminar on History and Philosophy of Science

Tuesday, May 14, 2019
4:00pm to 5:00pm
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Dabney Hall 110 (Treasure Room)
Causal Simulation
Thomas Icard, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Stanford University,

Abstract: Mental simulation is widely implicated in causal cognition. But how should we understand appeal to simulation in accounts of causal reasoning? On one view, it should be construed as part of a "process model" or an algorithmic-level account, specifying details omitted from a proper computational-level account, e.g., one based on structural equations. I propose instead that causal simulation be understood as a distinctive alternative to familiar formal treatments of causation. The proposal is supported by a combination of formal and empirical observations.

For more information, please contact Fran Tise by phone at 626-395-3609 or by email at [email protected].