Hume-Russell Causation in Lieu of Actual Causation: An Economic Turn

HR causation, short for Hume-Russell causation, is a type-causation-based account of causation which, while capturing some salvageable features of commonsensical actual causality, makes sensible causal attributions in complicated cases such as over-determination, pre-emption, joint cause, and mixed cases in such a way that social goals are more efficiently achieved. This novel notion of HR causation is justified by, so far as social evolution is concerned, the fact that a society adopting HR causation typically outperforms its counterpart society that resorts to actual causality in liability ascription.