The Relation Between Implication And Causal Reasoning

Implication is an important concept in logic. In the development of logic, implication plays an important role since the very beginning. The history of the research on implication is a long one, but logicians have not arrived at a univocal interpretation of the meaning of implication. Instead, due to different interpretations which are normally inspired by and based on different intuitive understandings, logicians have suggested different semantics to implication, upon which different logic systems with different natures and functions are built up. Causal reasoning is a type of inference form which is used frequently in everyday life. What is the relation between causal reasoning and implication? Does"A→B"correspond to causal reasoning? Through introducing various patterns of causal reasoning and different implication theories, this paper attempts to compare the relation of implication and causal reasoning, and tries to deeper the understanding of the relation of the two. The conclusion that I draw at the end of the thesis is that implication and causal reasoning are two related but distinguishable processes of thought. Material implication characterizes one modes of causal reasoning .That is sufficient but unnecessary causal reasoning. Because implication is not consistent with the relation between cause and effect of things, we cannot make a recognized definition for implication visually. And that's why implication becomes an controversial issue.This paper consists of four parts:The first part focuses on distinguishing the relation between causal reasoning and causality. Causality is an ontological concept, while causal reasoning is an epistemological concept. This part is to clarify two importantly related but distinctive concepts, which is necessary for further discussions.The second part distinguishes the different approaches in the field of causal reasoning study. The discussion will focus on the different approaches interpretation of the relationship between causes and effects. The third part mainly introduces different implication theories,including: material implication, strict implication, relevant implication, counterfactual implication and intuitive implication.The fourth part mainly compares the relation between causal reasoning and implication.