Full Idea
Woodward's Interventionism says assertion of a causal relation between X and Y requires only that interventions on X, meeting certain conditions, are accompanied by changes in Y, so a remote X can serve, as well as a proximal X.
Gist of Idea
X is causally linked to Y if interventions on X, even if remote, affect Y
Source
report of James Woodward (Making Things Happen [2003]) by Mazviita Chirimuuta - The Brain Abstracted 6.2.4
A Reaction
Woodward's book was too dense for me, so thanks to Mazviita Chirimuuta for identifying the key point. A distal X will still need a connection to some proximal X'. That connection could be quite circuitous, making X a minor contributor.
Book Reference
Mazviita Chirimuuta: 'The Brain Abstracted' [MIT 2024], p.166
Related Idea
Idea 24498 'Process theory' says a causal event must trnsmit some kind of 'mark' [Salmon, by Chirimuuta]