The Theories of Mechanisms


Jon Elster 1986, 1998:
A Plea for Mechanisms,
in Hedstrom and Swedberg (eds): Social Mechanisms: An Analytical Approach to Social Theory, CUP,
Cambridge, reprinted in 1999: Alchemies of the Mind, forthcoming.


mechanism = 'humdrum' explanation, in the sense of Cartwright (1983);
        stuck in the anteroom of science


mechanism, definition:
"frequently occurring ….causal pattern triggered under unknown conditions or with indeterminate consequences"




examples: 'Opposites attract each other'; 'Like attracts like'



mechanism understood as the antonym of covering law:     

covering law version       if     C1, C2,…..Cn         then     E
mechanism version         if     C1,C2,…Cn            then     sometimes E