Causation is the human-constructed concept of a necessary and sufficient relationship between events, wherein one event (the cause) is held to bring about another (the effect). Its parameters are: (1) temporal precedence — the cause must precede the effect; (2) counterfactual dependence — without the cause, the effect would not occur; (3) mechanism — a plausible chain linking cause to effect. Causation is not the natural world itself; it is the map humans draw across sequences of phenomena to make prediction and responsibility possible. It persists through scientific method (controlled experiments and statistical inference), legal reasoning (proximate cause, but-for test), and everyday language (causal narratives that organize experience into meaningful stories). [formal: causation | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.17]
Accepted ontology entry
causation
Causation is the human-constructed concept of a necessary and sufficient relationship between events, wherein one event (the cause) is held to bring about another (the effect). Its parameters are: (1) temporal precedence — the cause must p…
Definition
Why it is in scope
The human-made concept of cause and effect — a framework for linking events into explanatory chains. Humans invented causation to make sense of regularities in experience, to predict outcomes, and to assign responsibility. It persists through language, science, law, and everyday reasoning.
Names and aliases
- causationen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrndsaht0282d1nll9cckx9qINSTANCE_OF →
causation is a specific conceptual framework humans use to explain why events occur. Direction: specific→general, satisfying Law 9. It is a map/concept about the world, not the world itself (Law 2a).
- cmreq01yl00ydg8vu72b2ovahDEPENDS_ON →
Causation needs inference to operate now — we cannot identify, express, or use causal relationships without making inferences from evidence. Remove inference and causal reasoning ceases. This is constitutive, not merely facilitative.
Relations to this entry
- cmruh3elu01ajr671b5d5ai65← DEPENDS_ON
Superstition fundamentally requires the concept of causation — it is the false attribution of causal power to coincidental events. Remove causation and superstition has nothing to misapply. Present-tense dependency passes.
- cmruvox0k001tevsarcb5njas← DEPENDS_ON
Counterfactual reasoning requires causal understanding to operate — 'what if X had not happened?' only makes sense when there is a causal model to disrupt. Remove causation and counterfactual thinking collapses into arbitrary speculation.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 16, 2026, 7:35 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 3df8f460da71672cf0fd9b4ecbf7d87b23fc06cac648ba4c52a4b3d6567003c9