<div dir="ltr"><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt">To Be or Not to Be Included in a Causal Model</b><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:24px 0px 32px"><div style="direction:ltr;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt">February 28, 2026 @ 9:00 am - March 1, 2026 @ 5:00 pm EST</div></div><div id="m_-2837414191404137270gmail-x_x_post-9423" style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px">Venue and Date: Center for Philosophy of Science, February 28 & March 1, 2026</span></div><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px">Keynote Speakers:</span></div><ul style="direction:ltr;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding-left:0px;list-style-position:inside;display:flex"><li style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;direction:ltr;margin:0px">Samantha Kleinberg (Stevens Institute of Technology)</li><li style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;direction:ltr;margin:0.5em 0px 0px">Lily Hu (Yale University)</li></ul><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px">We are excited to announce this call for papers for work on causal modeling. The guiding question of this conference is: what can and cannot be represented by a variable in a causal model?</span></div><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px">The first host of problems arises in the philosophy of social sciences. What sorts of causal variables make sense when we talk about causation in social contexts; how do we handle variables that are socially constructed (e.g., race, gender); what do we do with causal relationships that are contextual, as social causal claims often are? These questions are theoretically interesting, but, more importantly, they must be considered if we want our theories to inform policy making.</span></div><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px">The second host of problems arises when we investigate discovering causal relations from data. What’s available in the data, what would be useful for a particular discipline, and what would yield models that are amenable to interventions?</span></div><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px">The third host of problems arises in formal work on causal modeling. What causal models are formally valid, and what do these constraints mean for causal theories? Interestingly, similar questions also arise in cognitive science: what variables are psychologically plausible and therefore can be exploited in cognitive representations?</span></div><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px"><u>Submission Instructions:<span> </span></u>Please prepare an anonymized abstract for a 20-minute talk addressing one of the questions asked above or a related issue. Abstracts of no more than 1000 words should be emailed as a PDF to<span> </span></span><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px;color:rgb(20,24,39)"><b><a id="m_-2837414191404137270gmail-OWA577a5430-a884-39c1-bb0f-45106d99220f" href="mailto:causalmodelingconference@causation.science" title="mailto:causalmodelingconference@causation.science" style="border-bottom-width:1.11111px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(51,74,255);color:rgb(20,24,39)" target="_blank">causalmodelingconference@causation.science</a></b></span><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px"> Please include your contact information in the body of the email.</span></div><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px"><b><u>Deadline for Submissions:</u> October 1st, 2025</b></span></div><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px">Organizing Committee:</span></div><ul style="direction:ltr;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding-left:0px;list-style-position:inside;display:flex"><li style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;direction:ltr;margin:0px">Jim Woodward (University of Pittsburgh)</li><li style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;direction:ltr;margin:0.5em 0px 0px">Caitlin Mace (University of Pittsburgh)</li><li style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;direction:ltr;margin:0.5em 0px 0px">Tom Wysocki (University of Pittsburgh)</li><li style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;direction:ltr;margin:0.5em 0px 0px">Justin Shin (University of Pittsburgh)</li><li style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;direction:ltr;margin:0.5em 0px 0px">Clark Glymour (Carnegie Mellon University)</li><li style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;direction:ltr;margin:0.5em 0px 0px">Zina Ward (Florida State University)<span> </span><div style="font-size:14pt;direction:ltr;margin:0.5em 0px 0px"><div role="presentation"><br></div></div></li></ul><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 16px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px"> Location:</span></div><div style="direction:ltr;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 28px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt"><span style="letter-spacing:0.5px">Center for Philosophy of Science (CL 1117, 4200 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260)</span></div></div><div style="direction:ltr;margin:0px;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Visit the website for the most up to date information: <span> </span><a id="m_-2837414191404137270gmail-OWA9dd8434b-dd7e-df7c-ccff-0d4302709268" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/event/to-be-or-not-to-be-included-in-a-causal-model/" title="https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/event/to-be-or-not-to-be-included-in-a-causal-model/" target="_blank">https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/event/to-be-or-not-to-be-included-in-a-causal-model/</a></div><div id="m_-2837414191404137270gmail-LPBorder_GTaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY2VudGVycGhpbHNjaS5waXR0LmVkdS9ldmVudC9hLXBvcHVsYXRpb24tZG9jdHJpbmUtaW4tbmV1cm9zY2llbmNlLXdvcmtzaG9wLw.." style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;max-width:800px;min-width:424px"></div><div id="m_-2837414191404137270gmail-x_x_x_x_x_x_x_x_x_x_x_x_Signature" style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><div style="direction:ltr;font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(12,100,192)"><i><br></i></div><div style="direction:ltr;font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(12,100,192)"><i></i></div></div><br></div>
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