Throughout human history, causal knowledge has been highly valued by laymen and
scientists alike. To be sure, both the nature of the causal relation and the conditions under
which a relationship can be deemed causal have been vigorously disputed. A number of
influential thinkers have even argued that the idea of causation is not scientifically useful (eg
Russell (1913)). Others have argued that forms of determination other than causation often
figure more prominently in scientific explanations (Bunge 1979). Nevertheless, many …