tdh@frog.UUCP (T. Dave Hudson) (03/17/85)
>From: jim@ISM780B.UUCP >A friend did a lot of work in this area, and one of his conclusions was >that there is no coherent model of causality which allows for backward >causation. There is a sloppy form expressed causally that is atemporal. In analyzing complex phenomena, it sometimes helps to speak of the logical consequences of an action. For example, an increase in the supply of money ceteris paribus is said to cause an increase in prices and wages. In particular, there have been instances where wages have risen first and then been sustained by an increase in the money supply; the temporal sequence of causality appears to have been reversed. However, there are other, overlapping causes, unsustainable in the particular example, that can cause the same effect, which is then sustained by the logical rule apparently in question. The imprecise formulation of "the increase in the money supply caused the increased prices and wages" must be taken contextually. David Hudson