Measuring Causal Invariance Formally |
| |
Authors: | Pierrick Bourrat |
| |
Institution: | 1.Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Balaclava Road, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia;2.Department of Philosophy & Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia |
| |
Abstract: | Invariance is one of several dimensions of causal relationships within the interventionist account. The more invariant a relationship between two variables, the more the relationship should be considered paradigmatically causal. In this paper, I propose two formal measures to estimate invariance, illustrated by a simple example. I then discuss the notion of invariance for causal relationships between non-nominal (i.e., ordinal and quantitative) variables, for which Information theory, and hence the formalism proposed here, is not well suited. Finally, I propose how invariance could be qualified for such variables. |
| |
Keywords: | causation invariance causal specificity information theory |
|
|