regularity theory
Philosophy
noun
Any of various theories which analyse the nature of the relation between cause and effect in terms of regular empirical sequences of events of particular types.
- Particularly associated with the work of David Hume (1711–76), the theory in its most basic form argues that the mind comes to perceive one event as causing another through constantly repeated experiences in which events of the first kind are followed by events of the second..
Origin
1920s; earliest use found in Charlie Broad (1887–1971), philosopher.