Single Idea 8351

[catalogued under 26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 5. Direction of causation]

Full Idea

It is much easier to trace effects back to causes with certainty than to predict effects from causes. If I have one contact with someone with a disease and I get it, we suppose I got it from him, but a doctor cannot predict a disease from one contact.

Gist of Idea

With diseases we easily trace a cause from an effect, but we cannot predict effects

Source

G.E.M. Anscombe (Causality and Determinism [1971], §1)

Book Reference

'Causation', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Tooley,M. [OUP 1993], p.91


A Reaction

An interesting, and obviously correct, observation. Her point is that we get more certainty of causes from observing a singular effect than we get certainty of effects from regularities or laws.