How to Model Mechanistic Hierarchies

Mechanisms are usually viewed as hierarchical, with lower levels of a mechanism influencing, and decomposing, its higher-level behavior. To draw quantitative predictions from a model of a mechanism, the model must capture this hierarchical aspect. Recursive Bayesian networks (RBNs) were put forward by Lorenzo Casini et al. as a means to model mechanistic hierarchies by decomposing variables into their constituting causal networks. The proposal was criticized by Alexander Gebharter. He proposes an alternative formalism, which instead decomposes arrows. Here, I defend RBNs from the criticism and argue that they offer a better representation of mechanistic hierarchies than the rival account.