Establishing the teratogenicity of Zika and evaluating causal criteria

Williamson, Jon (2018) Establishing the teratogenicity of Zika and evaluating causal criteria. Synthese, . ISSN 0039-7857. (doi:10.1007/s11229-018-1866-9)

Abstract

The teratogenicity of the Zika virus was considered established in 2016, and is an interesting case because three different sets of causal criteria were used to assess teratogenicity. This paper appeals to the thesis of Russo and Williamson (2007) to devise an epistemological framework that can be used to compare and evaluate sets of causal criteria. The framework can also be used to decide when enough criteria are satisfied to establish causality. Arguably, the three sets of causal criteria considered here offer only a rudimentary assessment of mechanistic studies, and some suggestions are made as to alternative ways to establish causality.

Item Type:	Article
DOI/Identification number:	10.1007/s11229-018-1866-9
Projects:	[UNSPECIFIED] Evaluating evidence in medicine [UNSPECIFIED] Grading evidence of mechanisms in physics and biology
Uncontrolled keywords:	Hill Criteria; Shepard Criteria; Russo-Williamson Thesis; Causal criteria; Causal indicators; Zika virus; Teratogenicity
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) Q Science > QR Microbiology > QR355 Virology R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Divisions:	Faculties > Humanities > School of European Culture and Languages > Philosophy
Depositing User:	Jon Williamson
Date Deposited:	27 Jun 2018 10:29 UTC
Last Modified:	29 May 2019 20:40 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/67423 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)