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Full Idea
There's no reason for you to assume that, X being something without which Y could never have come about, Y came about as a result of the assistance of X.
Gist of Idea
That something is a necessary condition of something else doesn't mean it caused it
Source
Seneca the Younger (Letters from a Stoic [c.60], 088)
Book Ref
Seneca: 'Letters from a Stoic (Selections)', ed/tr. Campbell,Robin [Penguin 1969], p.158
A Reaction
This thought originates with Carneades, reported by Cicero. This is a clear message to the likes of Mackie, who are in danger of thinking that giving the preconditions of something is sufficient to give its causes.
Related Idea
Idea 21675 Some facts are indispensable for an effect, and others actually necessitate the effect [Stoic school, by Cicero]
| 21675 | Some facts are indispensable for an effect, and others actually necessitate the effect [Stoic school, by Cicero] |
| 13309 | That something is a necessary condition of something else doesn't mean it caused it [Seneca] |
| 12633 | Definitions often give necessary but not sufficient conditions for an extension [Fodor] |
| 2963 | There may only be necessary and sufficient conditions (and counterfactuals) because we intervene in the world [Lockwood] |
| 3891 | If p entails q, then p is sufficient for q, and q is necessary for p [Scruton] |
| 4739 | In "if and only if" (iff), "if" expresses the sufficient condition, and "only if" the necessary condition [Engel] |
| 14600 | Analysis aims at secure necessary and sufficient conditions [Schaffer,J] |
| 20388 | 'Necessary' conditions are requirements, and 'sufficient' conditions are guarantees [Davies,S] |