I use a contrastive theory of causal explanation to analyze the notion of a genetic trait. The resulting definition is relational, an implication of which is that no trait is genetic always and everywhere. Rather, every trait may be either genetic or non-genetic, depending on explanatory context. I also outline some other advantages of connecting the debate to the wider causation literature, including how that yields us an account of the distinction between genetic traits and genetic dispositions.
CITATION STYLE
Northcott, R. (2012). Genetic Traits and Causal Explanation. In Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science (Vol. 282, pp. 65–82). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1951-4_4
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