A Theory of Causation in the Social and Biological Sciences [Hardcover]

This first full length treatment of interventionist theories of causation in the social sciences, the biological sciences and other higher-level sciences the presents original counter arguments to recent trends in the debate and serves as useful introduction to the subject.Acknowledgements PART I: CAUSATION IN THE SPECIAL SCIENCES AND THE INTERVENTIONIST THEORY OF CAUSATION Causation in the Special Sciences The Interventionist Explication of Causation PART II: WHAT IS WRONG WITH INTERVENTIONIST THEORIES Counterfactuals: A Problem for Interventionists? Getting Rid of Interventions Non-Universal Laws Woodward Meets Russell: Does Causation Fit into the World of Physics? PART III: AN ALTERNATIVE THEORY OF CAUSATION IN SPECIAL SCIENCES In Defense of Conceptually Non-Reductive Explications of Causation The Comparative Variability Theory of Causation Consequences Bibliography Index

Alexander Reutlinger is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cologne, Germany. His research is focussed on causation and laws in the social and biological sciences.