IDENTIFYING AND TESTING CAUSAL MECHANISMS BY APPLYING J.S. MILL'S INDIRECT METHOD OF DIFFERENCE
IDENTIFYING AND TESTING CAUSAL MECHANISMS BY APPLYING J.S. MILL'S INDIRECT METHOD OF DIFFERENCE

Summary/Abstract: This paper is aimed at investigating Mill's ideas of causation, with particular reference to his Indirect Method of Difference. More specifically, I will try to inspect whether an application of Mill's Indirect Method of Difference yields a positive result that allows a strong inference of a causal relationship being present; and if so, does one still need to specify a causal mechanism and test it with different cases? In the following pages, I will offer a comprehensive interpretation of Mill's basic methods, and argue that his Indirect Method of Difference is intended to ascertain the presence of a probable cause, within a set of all positive cases and the absence of it within the set of all negative cases. I deem that such condition is very rigorous, and that Mill's method is only hypothetical in identifying the presence of both necessary and sufficient conditions, as the cause of a certain phenomenon.

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