Title
Causal discovery and the problem of ignorance. An adaptive logic approach
Abstract
In this paper, I want to substantiate three related claims regarding causal discovery from non-experimental data. Firstly, in scientific practice, the problem of ignorance is ubiquitous, persistent, and far-reaching. Intuitively, the problem of ignorance bears upon the following situation. A set of random variables V is studied but only partly tested for (conditional) independencies; i.e. for some variables A and B it is not known whether they are (conditionally) independent. Secondly, Judea Pearl's most meritorious and influential algorithm for causal discovery (the IC algorithm) cannot be applied in cases of ignorance. It presupposes that a full list of (conditional) independence relations is on hand and it would lead to unsatisfactory results when applied to partial lists. Finally, the problem of ignorance is successfully treated by means of ALIC, the adaptive logic for causal discovery presented in this paper.
Year
DOI
Venue
2009
10.1016/j.jal.2007.11.004
Journal of Applied Logic
Keywords
Field
DocType
Causal discovery,Adaptive logic
Random variable,Ignorance,Algorithm,Artificial intelligence,Mathematics
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
7
2
1570-8683
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
2
0.50
5
Authors
1
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Bert Leuridan131.86