Conditionality vs Causality

[rameday]

Hello,

So I just had a question. I tend to sometimes view conditional reasons from a causality perspective. So instead of suff nec i think cause effect.

So for example with weaken questions that have elements of conditionality I know that I have to show that the necessary condition is not necessary for the suff. to occur. Isn't that similar to causality -- cause without effect and can I conceptualize it like that since I find causality a more straightforward concept than conditionality?

Also with weaken questions with conditional reasoning do I need to even worry about the contrapositive? I have the habit of always doing that but does the CP ever come into play with regards to the answers?

Finally just to clarify a MR and a MN do not undermine the conclusion? I have that in my notes here and i remember seeing something like that in our lesson books but I just want to make sure I wasn't mistaken.

A

[Ron Gore]

Hi Rameday,

You ask:

So for example with weaken questions that have elements of conditionality I know that I have to show that the necessary condition is not necessary for the suff. to occur. Isn't that similar to causality -- cause without effect and can I conceptualize it like that since I find causality a more straightforward concept than conditionality?

It's best not to conflate causality and conditionality, whether you do so knowingly or not. I find that only leads to confusion. Better to just remember that you can attack a conditional relationship by showing the necessary condition isn't really necessary.

Also with weaken questions with conditional reasoning do I need to even worry about the contrapositive? I have the habit of always doing that but does the CP ever come into play with regards to the answers?

It is not always necessary to diagram the contrapositive, and I would not simply diagram it automatically for each question. That is a big time waster that you can avoid. [as an aside, Dave wrote a great piece on our blog about deciding when to diagram and when not to diagram] However, I would always keep in mind that the original conditional statement and the contrapositive are logically identical, and that a weaken question could certain attack from the perspective of the contrapositive.

Thanks,

Ron