Research Program
Causal Selection
Outcomes depend on many factors, yet we often select some as more important. How do we make these selections, and why are some factors more important than others?
In simple cases, this question can appear too obvious or trivial to ask. On the one hand, it’s hard to imagine selecting oxygen rather than the striking of a match as the important cause of its ignition. On the other, it seems that, strictly speaking, all the factors are the cause of the event.
However, in cases of disasters, these answers do not answer many of the most vital questions about causation.
Which factors deserve the most blame? Which best help understand why the disaster occurred? Which factors are the most important focus for preventing future disasters and their tragic social costs?—all these require selections. Knowing we have given good answers requires knowing the reasons and justifications for those selections.
My research develops a pragmatic approach to analyzing causal selections in terms of why causes with certain features are more useful than others for particular purposes.
Enriching Causation
Using James Woodward’s interventionist theory of causation, I explicate new causal concepts that can be used to distinguish among causal factors: amplifying/damping, causal inertia, and causal delay.
I employ these concepts to elaborate and clarify the causal features safety scientists identify to draw distinctions among different types of causal factors, and their reasons for thinking some causes are more important than others for understanding disasters.
I also show how these concepts can be used to clarify causal reasoning in other areas of scientific and social knowledge.
Philosophy of Safety Science
Disaster investigations follow a common pattern. They begin by identifying what experts call, proximate factors (human errors, technical failures, and other physical causes). Once found, investigations rarely end. Instead, they continue in search of systemic or organizational factors (culture, hierarchy, communications).
Experts distinguish between these types of causal factors based on their distinctive causal features and their significance for preventing disasters and making systems safer.
My research analyzes and elaborates these distinctions and the reasoning experts use when selecting the important causes of disasters in cases like the Bhopal gas tragedy and Challenger.