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Full Idea
Causation seems to be primitive if the same laws and patterns of events might embody three different possible causes, as when two magicians cast the same successful spell, each with a 50% chance of success, and who was successful is unclear.
Gist of Idea
If two different causes are possible in one set of circumstances, causation is primitive
Source
Jonathan Schaffer (The Metaphysics of Causation [2007], 2.1.2)
Book Ref
'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.22
A Reaction
I'm cautious when the examples involve magic. It implies that the process that leads to the result will be impossible to observe, but if magic never really happens, then the patterns of events will always be different.
| 4553 | We derive the popular belief in cause and effect from our belief that our free will causes things [Nietzsche] |
| 8372 | We see what is in common between causes to assign names to them, not to perceive them [Ducasse] |
| 8366 | The very notion of a cause depends on agency and action [Wright,GHv] |
| 8362 | We give regularities a causal character by subjecting them to experiment [Wright,GHv] |
| 8337 | Some says mental causation is distinct because we can recognise single occurrences [Mackie] |
| 3535 | All observable causes are merely epiphenomena [Kim] |
| 15213 | Causation always involves particular productive things [Harré/Madden] |
| 8390 | Causation is directly observable in pressure on one's body, and in willed action [Tooley] |
| 18526 | We should focus on actual causings, rather than on laws and causal sequences [Heil] |
| 10384 | If two different causes are possible in one set of circumstances, causation is primitive [Schaffer,J] |
| 10386 | If causation is primitive, it can be experienced in ourselves, or inferred as best explanation [Schaffer,J] |