Reconstructing the Concept of Causality in Religious Philosophy under Algorithmic Rationality

Abstract

In the contemporary era of algorithmic rationality, the traditional concept of causality has come under profound pressure. Predictive algorithms, data-driven analytics, and machine learning systems are rapidly transforming causality into an operational tool of correlation, surveillance, and control. This paper investigates this transformation by drawing upon two contrasting yet philosophically rich traditions: Western causal determinism and the Buddhist theory of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda). Through a comparative and reconstructive philosophical analysis, the paper demonstrates that Buddhist dependent origination offers a non-linear, interdependent, and ethically embedded view of causality that stands in stark contrast to the mechanistic, reductionist assumptions of algorithmic determinism. Across six chapters, the study critically examines the ontological, epistemological, and ethical stakes of algorithmic causality, the philosophical heritage of Western determinism, the liberative potential of Buddhist conditionality, and the religious reimagination of freedom in a predictive age. The paper concludes by proposing a relational, dynamic, and non-reductive theory of causality that foregrounds moral agency and metaphysical openness, offering a viable philosophical response to the deterministic tendencies of algorithmic systems.