Causal processes in practice – new ideas from Cartwright & Pemberton

In our recent book, Causal processes and their warrant (CUP, 2026), we develop a pluralist account of causation and use this as a basis for a new method of evaluating the success of public policies. The method breaks fresh ground in affording the recognition of gaps in the available evidence base. We outline how to address such gaps. In a separate paper, Middle-sized theories (Topoi, 2026), we draw attention to the central role of theories that have middle-sized scope: theories that are reasonably reliable in limited (but broad enough) domains. We show how scientific practice moves up and down the size scale (by moving up and down a ladder of abstraction) to develop real world solutions. Our central example, middle-sized theories of change, ties this analysis to contemporary methods used in policy evaluation, casting light on these methods. I shall outline how these two publications together with three other recent papers (authored by ourselves and others) seek to employ philosophical ideas to address real world challenges.

John Pemberton is an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at Durham University. Aside from his research in the philosophy of science with Nancy Cartwright, he works largely on ontology with an emphasis on ontology of change.