Publisher's Synopsis
Since David Hume, empiricists have barred powers and capacities from nature. This treatise argues however that capacities are essential in our scientific world and, contrary to empiricist orthodoxy, they can meet sufficiently strict demands for testability.;Econometrics is one discipline where probabilities are used to measure causal capacities, and the technology of modern physics also provides several examples of testing capacities, of which lasers are just one instance. The author concludes by applying the lessons of the book about capacities and probabilities to explain the role of causality in quantum mechanics.
