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This paper offers a functional perspective on causation, thereby enabling domain experts to have a fairly expressive representation of various causal phenomena. As for its theoretical basis, causation is modeled upon the device ontology view of reality, assuming an intimate connection between causation and context; and a conceptual affinity between causation and function is discussed in detail, based on the recently developed theory of systemic function and the idea of \u2018causally efficacious occurrents\u2019, thereby introducing\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">achieves<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">prevents<\/jats:italic>\n                    as two basic causal relations. In addition, the idea of a state-centered approach to causation results in the definition of\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">allows<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">disallows<\/jats:italic>\n                    causal relations, in order to accommodate a wide range of examples based on the state-mediated type of causation. All this leads to three kinds of causal relata (events, processes, and states) and a fourfold distinction of causal relations (achieves, prevents, allows, and disallows). This paper also provides a preliminary formalization of these four causal relations and takes the first step towards a full-fledged functional theory of causation.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3233\/ao-190206","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,8]],"date-time":"2019-02-08T11:27:41Z","timestamp":1549625261000},"page":"43-78","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Causation: A functional perspective"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Fumiaki","family":"Toyoshima","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST)","place":["Japan"]}]},{"given":"Riichiro","family":"Mizoguchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST)","place":["Japan"]},{"name":"ISTC-CNR","place":["Italy"]}]},{"given":"Mitsuru","family":"Ikeda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST)","place":["Japan"]}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_2_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Arp R. 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