| How can irregular causal generalizations guide practice? | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21871482 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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In this essay, I shall be concerned with the sort of "irregular" causal generalizations that epidemiologists aim to discover. Examples include "Smoking causes lung cancer," "HIV viruses cause AIDs," or "Low dose aspirin prevents strokes." What do these claims mean and how should they guide action? I argue that philosophers have mistakenly believed that answering these questions calls for a theory of what it is for one event to be a probabilistic cause of another. But this theory fails to provide plausible truth conditions for irregular causal generalizations. Indeed, it implies that most of them are false. I sketch a more plausible view, but point out the risks one takes in relying on these generalizations to guide action. |
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Authors:
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Daniel M Hausman |
Publication Detail:
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Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2011-8-17 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Preventive medicine Volume: - ISSN: 1096-0260 ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2011 Aug |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-8-29 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0322116 Medline TA: Prev Med Country: - |
Other Details:
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Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: - |
Copyright Information:
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Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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