Classifying Dependencies

Metaphysicians typically distinguish sharply between grounding and causation, and philosophers of science typically distinguish sharply between causal and non-causal explanation, but there has been surprisingly little discussion of how exactly to draw these distinctions. In this paper I argue that six of the most obvious criteria fail to capture the intended distinction between causation and grounding. I propose and defend an alternative criterion in terms of the principles mediating the dependency, and I explore some of the implications of this criterion for the possibility of simultaneous causation in physics.