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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Our Philosophy- Falsafatuna Chapter Three: The Principle of Causality The principle of causality is one of the primary propositions known to people in their ordinary lives. This principle states that for everything there is a cause. It is one of the necessary rational principles; for (p.

808.a human being finds at the heart of his nature a motive that causes him to attempt to explain the things he encounters and to justify the existence of such things by disclosing their causes. This motive is inborn in human nature. Also, is may be present in a number of animals. Thus, such animals instinctively pay attention to the source of motion in order to know its cause. They search for the source of a sound, again in order to know its cause.

That is why human beings are always confronted with the question: 'Why . . .?' This question is raised concerning every existence and every phenomenon of which they are aware, so that if they do not find a specific cause [of such an existence or such a phenomenon], they believe that there is an unknown cause that produced the event in question.

The following things depend on the principle of causality: (1) demonstration of the objective reality of sense perception; (2) all the scientific theories and laws that are based on experimentation; and (3) the possibility of inference and its conclusions in any philosophical or scientific field. Were it not for the principle and laws of causality, it would not be possible to demonstrate the objectivity of sense perception, nor any scientific theory or law.

Further, it would not be possible to draw any inference in any field of human knowledge on the basis of any kind of evidence. This point will soon be clarified. Causality and the Objectivity of Sense Perception In 'The Theory of Knowledge', we pointed out that sense perception is nothing but a form of conception. It is the presence of the form of the sensible thing in the sense faculties. It does not have the character of a true disclosure of an external reality.

That is why, in the case of certain illnesses, a human being may have sense perception of certain things, without assenting to the existence of those things. Therefore, sense perception is not a sufficient ground for assent, judgement or knowledge concerning the objective reality. (p.

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