We engage in similar counterfactual reasoning outside the courtroom, when we try to figure out what caused an outcome. Would B have occurred even if A hadn’t happened? Would I have missed being involved in that accident if I hadn’t gone to that store? Would they have stayed married if he hadn’t taken that job? If the outcome would have been different in our counterfactual world, we treat that factor as a cause. There is nothing irrational about using counterfactual reasoning to make causal judgments; after all, it’s what’s used in the legal system. Still, not all necessary conditions are
...more
