Relativation of Causality Nexus and the Responsibility of the Smoking Industry – Acceptance of the Logic of Probability

Abstract

The essay examines one of the main arguments in defense of the lack of liability of the tobacco industry for damages suffered by smokers as a result of tobaccorelated diseases: the absence of unequivocal evidence of the causal link between the disease and the habit of smoking. It is intended to demonstrate that, despite being such diseases multifactorial, it is possible to defend a causal link between the habit of smoking and many tobacco related diseases. To this end, it is made a review of several modern theories of causation, demonstrating the relativization of the logic of certainty and the gradual acceptance of probability logic. It examines the theories and practices adopted in Europe and the United States that point to the possibility of impose tort liability to the tobacco industry, although not having achieved an indisputable proof of causation. It seeks to demonstrate the possibility to host scientific information from sustains, at the end, the possibility of a partial liability of the tobacco industry for damages suffered by smokers.  other sciences and working with statistics accepted by the scientific community. It sustains, at the end, the possibility of a partial liability of the tobacco industry for damages suffered by smokers.