CAUSALITY
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 373 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
The link in time between two events such as the first one is necessarily followed by the second one, through some well defined process.
This is the classical, strictly deterministic concept of causality. The first event is generally supposed to be the only cause of the second one, or at least its principal and overwhelming cause. Moreover, this relation must be verified each time the second event occurs after the first one. This implies some well defined and invariable sequence in a characteristic process.
This classical oversimplification of the Aristotelic concept of causality, useful as a first approximation and for prediction, has been now widely reconsidered and refined in systemics and cybernetics (see hereafter).
For a recent wide-embracing reconsideration of the multiple hues and shades of the concepts of cause and causality, see Chr. HARDY (2001, p. 44-55)