Explaining Correlations by Partitions

Abstract

In this paper two accounts of Reichenbachian common cause systems are compared. Examples are provided which show that Hofer-Szabó and Rédei (Int J Theor Phys 43:1819–1826, 2004) account and Hofer-Szabó et al. (The principle of the common cause, 2013) account is compatible, with but not equivalent, to Mazzola’s (Found Phys 42:512–523, 2012). Moreover, the difference of the two accounts with respect to their explanatory adequacy is discussed, in the light of Salmon’s statistical-relevance approach to statistical explanation.