The philosophical concept of causality, the principles of causes, or causation, the working of causes, refers to the set of all particular "causal" or "cause-and-effect" relations. A neutral definition is notoriously hard to provide since every aspect of causation has received substantial debate. Most generally, causation is a relationship that holds between events, objects, variables, or states of affairs. Causality presumes that all those things must have at least one cause, factor, or reason. It is also usually presumed that the cause chronologically precedes the effect. Finally, the existence of a causal relationship generally suggests that - all other things being equal - if the cause occurs the effect will as well (or at least the probability of the effect occurring will increase).

In natural languages, causal relationships can be expressed by the following causative expressions: i) a set of causative verbs make, create, do, effect, produce, occasion, perform, determine, influence; construct, compose, constitute; provoke, motivate, force, facilitate, induce, get, stimulate; begin, commence, initiate, institute, originate, start; prevent, keep, restrain, preclude, forbid, stop, cease; ii) a set of causative names agent, author, creator, designer, former, originator; antecedent, causality, causation, condition, fountain, occasion, origin, power, precedent, reason, source, spring; reason, grounds, motive, need, impulse; iii) a set of effective names creation, development, effect, end, event, fruit, impact, influence, issue, outcome, outgrowth, product, result, upshot. Causality is the centerpiece of the universe and so the main subject of ontology; for comprehending the nature, meaning, kinds, varieties, and ordering of cause and effect amounts to knowing the beginnings and endings of things, to uncovering the implicit mechanisms of world dynamics, or to having the fundamental scientific knowledge.

Causation in the history of Western philosophy

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Aristotle

In Metaphysics and Posterior Analytics, Aristotle stated: "All causes of things are beginnings; that we have scientific knowledge when we know the cause; that to know a thing's existence is to know the reason why it is". With this, he set the guidelines for all the subsequent causal theories by specifying the number, nature, principles, elements, varieties, order of causes as well as the modes of causation. Aristotle's account of the causes of things may be qualified as the most comprehensive model up to now.

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@Tomwilson24 I think they just can't die of aging, I think they indeed can die of other causes as the ones you said..
ingieeee (Inge De Meyer) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:43:54 -0000
@Tomwilson24 I think they just can't die of aging, I think they indeed can die of other causes as the ones you said..
RT @papawu1: Sex: the thing that takes up the least amount of time and causes the most amount of trouble. - John Barrymore
senatorskid (SKID) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:43:35 -0000
RT @papawu1: Sex: the thing that takes up the least amount of time and causes the most amount of trouble. - John Barrymore
ayo lust breeds love & love breeds jealously & jealously breeds evny & envy breeds hate & hate causes death!!!
allREDchucks (FastAL) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:43:14 -0000
ayo lust breeds love & love breeds jealously & jealously breeds evny & envy breeds hate & hate causes death!!!
@ingieeee @DonaldJr: @keystolost Die of natural causes maybe but would falling of a cliff or a canon ball from the Black Rock not kill them?
Tomwilson24 (Tom Wilson ) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:42:29 -0000
@ingieeee @DonaldJr: @keystolost Die of natural causes maybe but would falling of a cliff or a canon ball from the Black Rock not kill them?
Excess Body Fat Alone Causes Over 100,000 Cancers in US Each Year - Health News Digest | http://facebook.com/fitmenu http://bit.ly/4DgEeS
FitMenu (FitMenu) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:42:17 -0000
Excess Body Fat Alone Causes Over 100,000 Cancers in US Each Year - Health News Digest | http://facebook.com/fitmenu http://bit.ly/4DgEeS
Have you told a friend (two friends) to join Second Acts on Facebook? www.causes.com/secondacts The more members, the more pets rescued!
SecondActsPets (Michael Brown) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:40:58 -0000
Have you told a friend (two friends) to join Second Acts on Facebook? www.causes.com/secondacts The more members, the more pets rescued!

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