Dear Tipsters, And, as one not schooled in modern philosophy, may I add an appeal for a summary of what icausation IS? In particular, what conditions must be made for us to conclude that A causes B?
Stuart From: "Paul Okami" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Independent and Dependent Variables Date sent: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 20:16:54 -0400 Send reply to: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Re: Independent and Dependent VariablesWallace E. Dixon wrote: > > Karl was paraphrasing a comment I made in response to his query. The idea that > causation can be determined simply by manipulating one variable and then seeing > whether another variable "moves" -- adopted by psychology in the early 20th century > -- is based on long-refuted philosophies of causation that find their origins in the > work of David Hume and John Stuart Mill. There was much progress made on the theory > of causation in the second half of the 20th century, none of which is reflected in > experimental psychologists' methodology. For those interested, I recommend the Oxford (1993) collection of "classic" readings edited by Sosa & Tooley under the title of _Causation_. > > > I admit to not having read the collection to which you refer. However, I'm wary > when I hear "long-discredited" with no further comment (although I have done this > myself). For example, social constructionists and followers of Kuhn repeatedly > refer to logical positivism, Popperian philosophy of science etc., as "long > discredited" when it in no way is long-discredited. > > Is there some way you can briefly summarize the ways in which Mill and those whom he > influenced had it all wrong, so I may ammend my beliefs according to the new > consensus view of causality of which I seem to be shockingly ignorant? > > Thank you, > > Paul Okami, Ph.D. > Dept. of Psycholgy > Dept. of Communication Studies > UCLA > Los Angeles, CA 90095 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D., Phone: (819)822-9600 Chairperson, Extension 2402 Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Fax: (819)822-9661 3 Route 108 East, Borough of Lennoxville, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sherbrooke, Quebec J1M 1Z7, Canada. Bishop's University Psychology Department Web Page: http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
