established or accepted value. Nor can it demonstrate that there is a set of
universal values that applies to all human behaviour for all time.
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Ascertaining Causal Laws
Making and interpreting law involve causation. A law and an interpretation of a
law cause effects.
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When a legislature or a court makes or interpret law it has
to try predict as best it can the effect that each possible version of the law and
each meaning of the ambiguous provision will cause. This prediction is based
on causal laws.
Natural science, and often social science, ascertain and attempt to prove the
existence of causal laws by a process called the hypothetico-deductive model,
which as the label indicates, includes the process of deduction. It also involves
induction.
The hypothetico-deductive model proceeds in the following way. Scientists
observe phenomena then devise a plausible and testable theory to explain the
phenomena. To test the truth of the theory, they use deduction. They assume
that the theory is true then derive specific laws, labelled at this juncture
hypotheses, which flow from this assumption. This is a deduction in either of
two
forms, one of which is a proper syllogism while the other is merely
induction.
Deduction
The proper form of syllogism is as follows. “If Theory X is true, then Y will
happen when we do X. Y does not happen when we do X. Therefore Theory
X is not true”. This process is called falsification or disconfirmation. This is
truly deductive.
Induction
The other form is thus. “If Theory X is true, then Y will happen when we do
X. Y happens when we do X. Therefore Theory X might be true”. This is not
a pure syllogism, although it is sometime treated as such. Strictly, this process
provides support for a causal law, without definitively establishing it.
Realistically, if countless experiments support a causal law, and it is
successfully implemented in social or therapeutic practice, it is as good as true
to some extent at least, even if later research may refine the scope and basis of
the causal law.
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There is discussed in Chapter 19 Choice of Values.
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Chapter 13 Cause and Chapter 30 Model for Forming Law
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