Revitalizing Causality

This book is a unique, cross-disciplinary collection of articles by philosophers, social scientists and social theorists who explore, at different levels of abstraction, what it means to invoke causal mechanisms, or powers, in the context of offering a causal explanation. Realism about causality is a compelling Neo-Aristotelian alternative to the dominant Humean and Kantian approaches in philosophy and social science. Its proponents argue that causality is neither a misnomer for "constant conjunction" nor the exercise of a cognitive a priori , but rather is a matter of the powers that things have to affect other things. The volume contains both new and previously published articles. It is distinctive in that it is an effort to give broad shape to the emerging challenge to the ontology implicit in positivism and post-structuralism alike. It will be of particular interest to readers of philosophy (metaphysics, philosophy of science, philosophy of social science), sociology, political science and political economy, as well as to those familiar with critical realism.Groff, Ruth is the author of 'Revitalizing Causality', published 2008 under ISBN 9780415372183 and ISBN 0415372186.