• Korean Journal of Logic
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.47-67
• /
• 2005

Bayesian networks have been used in studying and simulating causal inferences by using the probability function distributed over the variables consisting of inquiry space. The focus of the debates concerning Bayesian networks is the causal Markov condition that constrains the probabilistic independence between all the variables which are not in the causal relations. Cartwright, a strong critic about the Bayesian network theory, argues that the causal Markov condition cannot hold in indeterministic systems, so it cannot be a valid principle for causal inferences. The purpose of the paper is to explore whether her argument on the causal Markov condition is valid. Mainly, I shall argue that it is possible for upholders of the causal Markov condition to respond properly the criticism of Cartwright through the continuous causal model that permits the infinite sequence of causal events.