Abstract
This chapter explores the relevance of Hume’s analysis and critique of causal explanation to the field of criminological theory. This formulation of causal reasoning, based on an ‘if x then y’ construction, is known as the Humean regularity, or chain, model of causation. It is argued here that this form of reasoning has been implicitly employed throughout the history of the social and criminological sciences. Utilising, and introducing the reader to, an adapted form of symbolic logic this chapter explores, in some depth, the technical and formal structure of the Humean model of causation. Finally, by employing a somewhat simplified example of an imagined Control theory, I show how this model works in terms of the structuring and creation of criminological theory.
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Notes
- 1.
For further details, see Appendix A. For an accessible and complete account of logic see Howson (1997)
- 2.
There are, however, varying interpretations of Hume’s account and not all of them see it as a regularity account. See Hume and Thick Connexions, by Simon Blackburn, references.
- 3.
Of course, this in and of itself is a huge assumption in some criminological theorising. Contraventions of law are widespread and not limited to only a specific subset of the population. It is unlikely that there is anyone in the general population who has not infringed upon the law at some point in their life.
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Warr, J. (2016). Humean Causation and Crime Theory. In: An Introduction to Criminological Theory and the Problem of Causation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47446-5_3
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