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Research PaperResearchia:202606.24058

Difference-Making without Making a Difference

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 acco...

Submitted: June 24, 2026Subjects: AI; Artificial Intelligence

Description / Details

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.


Source: arXiv:2606.24832v1 - http://arxiv.org/abs/2606.24832v1 PDF: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.24832v1 Original Link: http://arxiv.org/abs/2606.24832v1

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Date:
Jun 24, 2026
Topic:
Artificial Intelligence
Area:
AI
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