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Full Idea
What makes p a cause-factor relative to the effect-factor q (rather than vice versa) is the fact that by manipulating p, producing changes in it 'at will', we could bring about changes in q.
Gist of Idea
p is a cause and q an effect (not vice versa) if manipulations of p change q
Source
G.H. von Wright (Logic and Epistemology of Causal Relations [1973], §8)
Book Ref
'Causation', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Tooley,M. [OUP 1993], p.118
A Reaction
As a solution to the direction-of-causation problem, I suspect that this proposal is begging the question. Will a causal explanation be offered of the action of manipulation? If he mistook his manipulation for a cause when it is actually an effect...
| 8366 | The very notion of a cause depends on agency and action [Wright,GHv] |
| 8360 | We must further analyse conditions for causation, into quantifiers or modal concepts [Wright,GHv] |
| 8361 | What is true used to be possible, but it may no longer be so [Wright,GHv] |
| 8362 | We give regularities a causal character by subjecting them to experiment [Wright,GHv] |
| 8363 | p is a cause and q an effect (not vice versa) if manipulations of p change q [Wright,GHv] |
| 8364 | We can imagine controlling floods by controlling rain, but not vice versa [Wright,GHv] |
| 8365 | Some laws are causal (Ohm's Law), but others are conceptual principles (conservation of energy) [Wright,GHv] |