Ideas about causation in philosophy and psychology.

Abstract

Philosophical theories summarized here include regularity and necessity theories from Hume to the present; manipulability theory; the theory of powerful particulars; causation as connected changes within a defined state of affairs; departures from normal events or from some standard for comparison; causation as a transfer of something between objects; and causal propagation and production. Issues found in this literature and of relevance for psychology include whether actual causal relations can be perceived or known; what sorts of things people believe can be causes; different levels of causal analysis; the distinction between the causal relation itself and cues to causal relations; causal frames or fields; internal and external causes; and understanding of causation in different realms of the world, such as the natural and artificial realms. A full theory of causal inference by laypeople should address all of these issues. The main purpose of this article is to survey philosophical theories of causation in a manner intended to be suitable for psychologists interested in causation. The article has two sections: The first presents brief summaries of philosophical theories of causation from Aristotle to the present. In the second, issues found in the philosophical literature are used to suggest new approaches to the study of causation in psychology.