Philosophy Speakers: Causal Selection in the Biological Sciences

Causal selection has to do with the distinction we make between background conditions and “the” true cause or causes of some outcome of interest. A longstanding consensus in philosophy views causal selection as lacking any objective rationale and as guided, instead, by arbitrary, pragmatic, and non-scientific considerations. I argue against this position in the context of causal selection for disease traits. In this domain, causes are selected on the basis of the type of causal control they exhibit over a disease of interest. My analysis clarifies the principled rationale that guides this selection and how it involves both pragmatic and objective considerations that have been overlooked in the extant literature. About the speaker Lauren Ross is a philosopher of science who holds an MD from the University of California and recently completed her PhD in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. Her research concerns explanation and cause particularly in the area of biology, neuroscience, and medicine. Ross deferred for one year a tenure-track appointment at the University of California, Irvine in order to spend 2016-17 at UCalgary as an Eyes High Postdoctoral Fellow. She is working with Professor Ken Waters on his Research Group project, From Biological Practice to Scientific Metaphysics.
Location:
Social Sciences 1253
More information at http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/calendar/philosophy-speakers-causal-selection-biological-sciences