The Entropy Theory of Counterfactuals
Open accessAbstract
I assess the thesis that counterfactual asymmetries are explained by an asymmetry of the global entropy at the temporal boundaries of the universe, by developing a method of evaluating counterfactuals that includes, as a background assumption, the low entropy of the early universe. The resulting theory attempts to vindicate the common practice of holding the past mostly fixed under counterfactual supposition while at the same time allowing the counterfactual's antecedent to obtain by a natural physical development. Although the theory has some success in evaluating a wide variety of ordinary counterfactuals, it fails as an explanation of counterfactual asymmetry.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Visual input data (images) are associated with saliency maps in counterfactual explanations.
“On the other hand, visual input data (i.e., images) are associated with saliency maps [133]”
From A Survey of Contrastive and Counterfactual Explanation Generation Methods for Explainable Artificial Intelligence (2021) · cites this paper as [133]
Chang et al. employ a generative model to construct a saliency map while masking the other regions of the input image.
“They employ a generative model to construct a saliency map while masking the other regions of the input image.”
From A Survey of Contrastive and Counterfactual Explanation Generation Methods for Explainable Artificial Intelligence (2021) · cites this paper as [133]
In computer vision-related classification tasks, Chang et al. find the smallest region in the image whose substitution would change the classifier's prediction.
“In computer vision-related classification tasks, Chang et al. find the smallest region in the image whose substitution would change the classifier's prediction [133].”
From A Survey of Contrastive and Counterfactual Explanation Generation Methods for Explainable Artificial Intelligence (2021) · cites this paper as [133]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Madden, E. H., Goodman, N., & van Melsen, A. G. (1955) · Philosophy and Phenomenological Research · doi:10.2307/2103789 · Cited by 4,398 · see citing works
Stalnaker, R. C. (1968) · IFS · doi:10.1007/978-94-009-9117-0_2 · Cited by 2,220 · see citing works
Counterfactual Dependence and Time's Arrow
Lewis, D. (1979) · Noûs · doi:10.2307/2215339 · Cited by 1,514 · see citing works
Adams, E. W. (1975) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-015-7622-2 · Cited by 1,206 · see citing works
Albert, D. Z. (2000) · doi:10.4159/9780674020139 · Cited by 574 · see citing works
The Problem of Counterfactual Conditionals
Goodman, N. (1947) · The Journal of Philosophy · doi:10.2307/2019988 · Cited by 465 · see citing works
Sosa, E. (1975) · Oxford University Press eBooks · Cited by 463 · see citing works
Albert, D. Z., & von Baeyer, H. C. (2001) · American Journal of Physics · doi:10.1119/1.1410953 · Cited by 456 · see citing works
STALNAKER, R. C. (1970) · Philosophy of Science · doi:10.1086/288280 · Cited by 343 · see citing works
The Logic of Conditionals: An Application of Probability to Deductive Logic.
Nute, D. E., Mitcheltree, W., & Adams, E. W. (1981) · Noûs · doi:10.2307/2215448 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Sheldon, W. H., & Dewey, J. (1904) · The Journal of Philosophy Psychology and Scientific Methods · doi:10.2307/2010722 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Counterfactuals and Comparative Possibility
Lewis, D. (1975) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-010-1756-5_1 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
Counterfactuals and comparative possibility
Lewis, D. D. (1973) · Journal of Philosophical Logic · doi:10.1007/bf00262950 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Counterfactuals and Temporal Direction
Bennett, J. (1984) · The Philosophical Review · doi:10.2307/2184413 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Sc.D., N. C. (1996) · Cited by 169 · see citing works
STALNAKER, R. C. (1970) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-009-9117-0_5 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
VII.—Subjunctive Conditionals, Time Order, and Causation
Downing, P. B. (1959) · Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society (Hardback) · doi:10.1093/aristotelian/59.1.125 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Skyrms, B. (1994) · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Lewis, D. (1973a). Counterfactuals. Oxford: Blackwell.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Stepin, I., Alonso, J. M., Catala, A., & Pereira-Farina, M. (2021) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2021.3051315 · Cited by 376 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kutach, D. N.
- Affiliations
- University of Oklahoma (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kutach, Douglas N.
- Venue
- Philosophy of Science
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2002-03
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 82-104
- ISSN
- 0031-8248 (ISSN-L)
- 1539-767X
- OpenAlex
- W1969648065
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2024: 2 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 2.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- philarchive.org
- Locations
- Philosophy of Science (publishedVersion)
- PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
- Keywords
- counterfactuals, entropy, counterfactual evaluation, thermodynamics of time
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
