原因と結果なくして、科学も技術も、道徳的な責任も、法体系も生まれることはありません。つまり因果関係とは、私たちが住む宇宙の最も基本的な関係性であり、哲学的思想における根本主題だといえます。ある原因からは常に同じ結果が生まれるのか。原因は常に結果に先立つものか、因果関係は物理力に例えることができるのか。因果の基本的な理論をわかりやすく解説するとともに、これまでの注目すべき重要な論争を紹介します。
   

• Thought-provoking introduction to a core topic in philosophy
• An engaging introduction to the key theories of causation and the surrounding debates and controversies
• Explores the integral part causation plays in a number of different areas, including physics, biology, law, technology, medicine, and economics
• Explains the key issues through a series of questions relating to the big issues

 
Causation is the most fundamental connection in the universe. Without it, there would be no science or technology. There would be no moral responsibility either, as none of our thoughts would be connected with our actions and none of our actions with any consequences. Nor would we have a system of law because blame resides only in someone having caused injury or damage. 

Any intervention we make in the world around us is premised on there being causal connections that are, to a degree, predictable. It is causation that is at the basis of prediction and also explanation. This Very Short Introduction introduces the key theories of causation and also the surrounding debates and controversies. Do causes produce their effects by guaranteeing them? Do causes have to precede their effects? Can causation be reduced to the forces of physics? And are we right to think of causation as one single thing at all?