Powers and Causation

English translation of 'Voimat ja syy-seuraussuhde' (from Metafysiikan Perusteet [The Basics of Metaphysics], eds. Hakkarainen & Slavov, 2026, Gaudeamus). An overview of the main causal realist and causal reductionist accounts of causation as well as the strength and weaknesses of each. Causal realist accounts offer suggestions about the fundamental nature of causation, i.e. whether it is (i) the transmission of conserved quantities that produce changes in so called causal processes, (ii) the activities of parts of mechanisms that produce change in each other and thus in the mechanism, or (iii) the exertion of influence by powers or objects bearing powers. Powers-based accounts then differ in the characterization of interactions between powerful entities. Causal reductionist accounts of causation offer suggestions about how to understand causation in non-causal terms such as regularity, counterfactual dependence, or intervention.