HP Labs Technical Reports

Multiple Contradictory Causal Fields

Carroll, Jeremy J.; Menchini, Maria Chiara

HPL-97-129

Keyword(s): causality; causation; paraconsistency; logic; inconsistent; networking; ISO/OSI 7 layer model

Abstract: This paper notes that Mackie's concept of causal field can be extended to indicate the domain of acceptable explanations for an event. When we have multiple possible causal fields then it is sometimes desirable to reason using more than one causal field, and there is no a priori reason that they should be consistent. We explore this idea by means of two examples; one being a detailed account of the interactions between the layers of the OSI/ISO stack used in computer networking. Notes: Maria Chiara Menchini Non-HP author

9 Pages

Back to Index