ABSTRACT
This chapter is designed to organize, make sense of, and evaluate a number of theories of stuttering and to place theorizing about stuttering into the broader framework of the nature and philosophy of science. Causality may be explained at different levels. The chapter concerns particularly with theories that propose possible causes of stuttering. The logical domain is concerned with the logic of the arguments contained in such propositions. Hume suggested that cause and effect cannot be observed directly, nor proved on either logical or empirical grounds. In order to attribute causality to a condition, the condition must be both necessary and sufficient for the effect to occur. As well as considering necessary and sufficient conditions in relation to causality, it is also possible to consider causes as proximal and distal. Interestingly, despite the fact that affirming the consequent is fallacious, this form of reasoning underpins much scientific inquiry.
