Causality, Modality, and Explanation

We present a sequent calculus system for a modal reformulation of a system of nonmonotonic logic due to McCain and Turner: we prove cut elimination for our system. The proof system is in general infinitary: because we can prove cut elimination, many applications need, in practice, only the application of finitary rules. Consequently, nonmonotonic logic is, in many cases, much less scary than it might seem to be a priori. We derive from this a critique of Fodor's philosophical worries about the nonmonotonicity of human reasoning.

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