Causation in the Special Sciences

Abstract

The aim of this book is to provide a theory of causation in the special sciences (that is, a theory of causation in the social sciences, the biological sciences and other higher-level sciences). I attempt to reach this goal by pursuing a negative target and a positive target: the main negative target is to argue against a currently influential theory of causation, the interventionist theory of causation. The book will focus mainly on the interventionist theory developed in James Woodward’s (2003) book Making Things Happen. Counter-arguments against the interventionist theory will attempt to show that the central concept of the interventionist theory of causation — that is, the concept of a possible intervention — is immensely problematic. For this reason, I will argue that the interventionist theory of causation is not tenable. The main positive target of the book consists in replacing the interventionist approach with my own explication of causation in the special sciences, the comparative variability theory of causation.