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(2013) Synthese 190 (14).
Correlations, deviations and expectations
the extended principle of the common cause
Claudio Mazzola
pp. 2853-2866
The Principle of the Common Cause is usually understood to provide causal explanations for probabilistic correlations obtaining between causally unrelated events. In this study, an extended interpretation of the principle is proposed, according to which common causes should be invoked to explain positive correlations whose values depart from the ones that one would expect to obtain in accordance to her probabilistic expectations. In addition, a probabilistic model for common causes is tailored which satisfies the generalized version of the principle, at the same time including the standard conjunctive-fork model as a special case.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/s11229-012-0089-8
Full citation:
Mazzola, C. (2013). Correlations, deviations and expectations: the extended principle of the common cause. Synthese 190 (14), pp. 2853-2866.
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