Simplifying Causality: A Brief Review of Philosophical Views and Definitions with Examples from Economics, Education, Engineering, Medicine, Policy, and Physics

Abstract

This short paper compiles the main concepts behind some philosophical views, definitions, and examples of causality. This collection spans the realms of the four commonly adopted approaches to causality: Hume’s regularity, counterfactual, manipulation, and mechanisms. This short review is motivated by presenting simplified views and definitions and then supplements them with examples from various fields, including economics, education, medicine, politics, physics, and engineering. I hope this short review is helpful to new and interested readers with little knowledge of causality and causal inference.