ABSTRACT
Jonathan Schaffer observed that the ubiquity of instances of causation-by-disconnection counts against several proposed criteria of causal status. Schaffer maintained that instances of causation-by-disconnection also are a problem for the process theories of Wesley Salmon and Phil Dowe. According to Schaffer, an adequate theory of causation will need to include absences among the necessary and/or sufficient conditions that qualify as causes. Whether satisfying a manipulability criterion is a necessary condition of causation depends on the degree of extrapolation permitted from humanly achievable manipulations. Whether a transition from potential energy to kinetic energy satisfies the criterion that a causal relation involves energy transfer is subject to debate. One may attempt to include instances of omission and instances of prevention as cases of energy transfer by appending counterfactual claims to the analysis. James Woodward's version of the manipulability criterion is a sufficient condition of causation as well.
