Difference-Making without Making a Difference
2026-06-23 • Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence
AI summaryⓘ
The authors Andreas and Günther proposed seven different ways to define actual causation, grouping them into three categories. The paper argues that their latest definition actually includes all three categories, suggesting these groups aren't really different. It also compares this new definition against the previous six and finds problems with all of them. This challenges the usefulness of their entire set of definitions.
actual causationfactual difference-makingcounterfactual difference-makingregularity-based accountscausal definitionsdifference-makingcounterfactualscausation classification
Authors
Sander Beckers
Abstract
Over a series of seven papers, Andreas & Günther have introduced seven definitions of actual causation and have classified them as belonging to three different, competing, types of accounts: factual difference-making, counterfactual difference-making, and regularity-based. I show that their most recent - factual difference-making - definition instantiates all three types, thereby proving that these are distinctions without a difference. I further compare their novel account to the other six accounts on several crucial examples, revealing that this undermines all seven of their accounts.