ABSTRACT
The basic theory of causation is at some stage associated with the idea of causal necessitation, or the principle of determinism. Automatic causal processing occurs when and because beliefs of the sort described can be put to work in perception. Causal processing will be accurate when those beliefs are accurate and inaccurate when those beliefs are inaccurate. People may also fail to perceive actual causal relations, despite perceiving the things and events involved, if they hold no beliefs about the causal powers of the things involved. There are several distinct types of conditions relating to action and causation under the causal powers theory. Causal beliefs may be developed in a number of ways, and again the various inductive methods are likely to be important. Since causal powers are properties of things, they are also understood in relation to categories of things, and hierarchical levels of categories of things.
