Causalism can be defined as the belief that "everything has a cause."
It can be extended to the idea that "every event has a cause" and that the physical world consists of a series of events as causes.
This makes causalism more or less synonymous with
determinism.
Since it is the essence of scientific research to seek out causes, to find causal explanations for all phenomena, scientists generally lean toward causalism in their work. This biases them toward what
William James called "antipathy to
chance."
Because a random event does not seem to "explain" anything, scientists and most philosophers generally are opposed to "real" or ontological chance. They regard randomness as an epistemic problem of human ignorance, our inability to determine all the physical variables needed for perfect certainty about the future. They may be called "causalists."
The Greek word for "cause" (
aition) also means "explanation."
Causalism in the Philosophy of Action
Causalists believe that motives, reasons, desires, or intentions are the causes of behavior and actions, that actions are the direct result of mental states, not from a conscious
free will guiding actions.
This is consistent with the
compatibilist view that our actions are completely
determined but this makes them determined by our character (i.e., beliefs, desires, motives, feelings, etc.) which is essential if we are to be
responsible for our actions. There is a "causal chain" of events, but our "
self-determination" is in that causal chain, so we can be said to cause our actions.
Two-stage models of free will locate the "free" part of "free will" in the generation of
alternative possibilities (new "thoughts") for action. The second "willed" stage is the same as the compatibilist/determinist view, that our actions are the result of the
statistically determined evaluation of those possibilities, subsequent deliberation, and then an ultimate choice governed by our character (beliefs, desires, motives) so we are indeed
responsible for our actions.
The
two-stage model breaks the causal chain of determinism (actually
pre-determinism) and is the most plausible model for human freedom.
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