50. Causes: Essential, Accidental, and the Problem of Chance

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Essential vs. Accidental Causes #

Essential Cause (κατ’ αὑτό / per se)

• A cause acts through its defining nature or essential property
• Example: A house-builder causes a house through being a house-builder; the art of building houses is essential to the causation
• The cause operates “through itself”

Accidental Cause (κατὰ συμβεβηκός / per accidens)

• A cause acts through something incidental or non-essential to its nature
• Example: A pianist who happens to build a house causes the house accidentally (not through being a pianist, but through happening to be a house-builder)
• What happens to the cause itself can be called accidental cause of the effect

Two Kinds of Accidental Causes #

Luck and Chance

• Definition: A cause of what happens rarely as a result of an action done for some other purpose; necessarily unintended
• Characteristic: Does not happen most of the time; escapes prediction
• Examples:
  • A gardener digging a hole for planting accidentally discovers buried treasure
  • Meeting an old friend unexpectedly while crossing a street for dinner
  • A traffic accident: going through a green light to the grocery store, hit by someone running a red light
  • A mother lion chasing prey accidentally finds her lost cub while hunting
• Distinction: Luck is chance in human affairs; chance occurs in nature as well
• Obscurity: Luck and chance are obscure causes because infinite things could happen; they escape our knowledge

Causa Removens Prohibens (The Removing/Preventive Cause)

• A cause that removes what prevents or impedes something from happening
• Characteristic: Involves a necessary order (unlike luck); something regularly results from the removal
• Examples:
  • Knocking down a pillar causes the roof to fall (by removing what prevented it)
  • Releasing a car’s handbrake causes it to roll downhill
• Responsibility: We hold someone responsible for such causation even though they didn’t directly move the thing; they removed an impediment
• Distinction from luck: The causa removens prohibens is not rare or unpredictable; it happens necessarily once the impediment is removed

The Problem of Responsibility #

Berquist distinguishes between cases where we do and don’t hold someone responsible:

• Responsible: Knocking down a pillar (causa removens prohibens)—you removed what prevented the roof from falling
• Not responsible for outcome: Being shot behind a target while walking and thinking of philosophy—this is bad luck, though you were in the wrong place
• The word “responsible” (from Greek αἴτιος / aition = cause) reflects this causal connection

How Accidental Causes Relate to Action #

• In any action aimed at an end, countless accidental things could happen
• These accidental results are not what the agent intends
• The distinction between what is done for an end (the intended action) and what happens accidentally (as a byproduct) is crucial
• Example: When Adam and Eve sinned, they wanted to avoid dependence on God for accidental things by relying on their own reason; but an infinity of accidents escape human knowledge

Key Arguments #

The Necessity of Understanding Accidental Causes #

1. For understanding natural causation: Not all effects result from direct causal action; some result from removal of impediments
2. For moral responsibility: Understanding when something is an accidental cause (per accidens) vs. essential (per se) determines whether and how much we are responsible
3. For theology: Providence must account for the infinity of accidental causes; God alone can know and direct all accidents

The Difference Between Luck/Chance and Causa Removens Prohibens #

• Luck/Chance: Rare, unpredictable, accidental in both cause and connection to effect
• Causa Removens Prohibens: Necessary connection, regular result, accidental only in that the agent did not directly move the thing but removed an impediment
• Both are types of accidental causation, but very different in their necessity and predictability

Important Definitions #

Per se (κατ’ αὑτό) - Through itself; essentially; by virtue of the defining nature of the cause

Per accidens (κατὰ συμβεβηκός) - Accidentally; through something incidental to the nature of the cause

Luck/Chance - An accidental cause of what happens rarely as a result of action aimed at another end; unintended and unpredictable

Fortuna / Εὐτυχία (eutuchia) - Fortune; chance in human affairs (Latin); the Greek term Aristotle uses in the Poetics

Causa removens prohibens - A cause that removes what prevents or prohibits something; characterized by necessary connection between removal and result

Responsible - From Greek αἴτιος (aition), meaning cause; indicates that one is the cause of what happens

Examples & Illustrations #

Essential Cause: House-Builder #

A house-builder is the essential cause of a house because the art of building houses is essential to what a house-builder is. If the same person is a pianist, the piano-playing is accidental to house-building.

Accidental Cause: Treasure Discovery #

A gardener digs a hole to plant something (his action aimed at an end). While digging, he hits something that turns out to be a buried treasure chest. His digging was the accidental cause of his becoming wealthy—not because gardening aims at wealth, but because he happened to dig in the right spot. Wealth discovery happens rarely from digging; most gardeners never find treasure.

Accidental Cause: Meeting an Old Friend #

Berquist went to Quebec to eat dinner at the Montcalm restaurant. While crossing the street (Carrière d’Ueval), someone yelled “Percival!” An old acquaintance he hadn’t seen in 10 years had come to Quebec with his wife for a vacation, not to meet Berquist. Berquist’s going to dinner was the accidental cause of the meeting—something that doesn’t regularly happen when one goes to dinner.

Causa Removens Prohibens: The Pillar #

A pillar holds up a roof. If I knock the pillar down, the roof falls. I am held responsible for the roof falling—but did I directly pull the roof down? No. The pillar was preventing the roof from falling. By removing the pillar, I removed what prevented the fall. A necessary connection follows: remove the support, and the roof falls (assuming standard gravity and structural conditions).

Causa Removens Prohibens: The Car Brake #

You park your car on a hill with the handbrake engaged. Someone releases your handbrake, and the car rolls down into the lake. You hold that person responsible for your car’s destruction. They didn’t push the car; they removed what prevented it from rolling. A necessary connection follows the removal.

Traffic Accident #

You drive through a green light headed to the grocery store. Someone runs a red light and hits you. You are hit by accident—an accidental cause. You were going to the store, not to have an accident. The accident happens rarely from going to the store (though it can happen). This is luck or chance.

Mother Lion Finding Lost Cub #

A mother lion chases another animal for food (her action aimed at an end: dinner). The prey happens to run by where her wandering cub is. She recovers her cub. This is chance in nature: an accidental cause of an action aimed at one end (food) resulting in something else good (finding her young). It’s not something that regularly happens when hunting.

Shooting at a Target #

You practice shooting at a target in your backyard. Someone walking nearby, thinking of philosophy, ends up behind the target and is shot. You are not responsible in the same way as if you knocked down a pillar—this is bad luck. The person happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The accidental cause here is not like causa removens prohibens because there’s no necessary connection; it’s pure chance.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet #

Romeo marries Juliet secretly and wants to make peace with her family. A fight breaks out between Mercutio and Tybalt. Romeo tries to stop the fight by putting down Mercutio’s sword. Tybalt stabs Mercutio, who dies. Romeo, losing his head, kills Tybalt and is exiled. Romeo says: “I am fortune’s fool.” What he intended (peace) did not happen; what he didn’t intend (death and exile) resulted from his action. The play is full of references to fortune and luck.

Meeting a Girl by Car Accident #

Berquist mentions a newspaper story: A man hits a woman’s car in an accident (before no-fault insurance). They must see each other repeatedly during the long legal proceedings. They fall in love and become engaged. Berquist jokingly says: “If you see a nice girl in a car, don’t smash into her car to get her attention.” The accidental cause of a romantic meeting was a traffic accident.

Saramack and Roosevelt #

Saramack went to Florida to make peace with President Roosevelt after opposing him in the convention. Someone tried to assassinate Roosevelt, and Saramack was hit by the bullet intended for the President. He went there to make peace, not to be shot. This is an extreme example of chance in human affairs.

Notable Quotes #

“The accidental there can be, in some way, necessary.” — On how causa removens prohibens, though technically accidental, involves necessary connection

“You’re going to the grocery store as a cause of your getting an accident. It doesn’t happen most of the time. You go through the green light and somebody plows through.” — Illustrating luck/chance as a rare byproduct of intended action

“Anything good or bad could happen, right? When I go to the store, who knows what could happen when I go to the store today?” — On the infinity of possible accidents arising from any action

“I wouldn’t recommend it. You see a nice girl in a car, you want to marry her. Or don’t go and smash into her car.” — Humorous commentary on Romeo and Juliet

Questions Addressed #

What is the difference between an essential cause and an accidental cause? #

An essential cause acts through its defining nature (a house-builder through building); an accidental cause acts through something incidental to its nature (a pianist who happens to build houses, but not through being a pianist).

What is luck or chance? #

Luck is an accidental cause of what happens rarely, as a byproduct of action aimed at some other end, and it is necessarily unintended. It is obscure because infinite things could happen; accidents escape our knowledge.

How does the causa removens prohibens differ from luck and chance? #

The causa removens prohibens (removal of what prevents) involves a necessary connection and happens regularly, not rarely. It is accidental only in the sense that the agent didn’t directly move the thing, but removed an impediment. We hold people responsible for such causes in a way we don’t for pure accidents.

Why do we hold people responsible for removing a pillar but not for being shot behind a target? #

Removing a pillar is a causa removens prohibens with necessary connection—you removed what prevented the roof from falling. Being shot behind a target is pure luck; you didn’t create a necessary causal chain; you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Are accidental causes always rare and unpredictable? #

No. The causa removens prohibens is an accidental cause but involves necessary connection and happens regularly. Luck and chance are the accidental causes that are rare and unpredictable.