Abstract

1. We speak of causes in a large variety of contexts and in respect of a large variety of kinds of effects. For instance, we speak of one billiard ball causing the other to move; of diseases as causing death; of drunkenness as a cause of accidents; of the elasticity of the rubber as causing the balloon not to burst under pressure; of the change in temperature as causing the change in the length of the steel girder; of the lemon's acidity as causing it to taste sour; of the cause of the universe, or of matter; of causes of wars, crises, depressions; of causes of other people's actions, and even of their decisions. In brief, the contexts in which talk about causes occurs are where we seek to explain causally the occurrence of happenings, events, changes, phenomena, the existence of things, the possession of properties, human behavior, states of mind, decisions, etc. Hence a satisfactory elucidation of the concept of cause must cover the variety of causes which are pointed to in causal explanations in these areas.