Causality and Scientific Theories Scientific theories in the...

Causality and Scientific Theories Scientific theories in the various experimental and observational fields are in general primarily dependent on the principle and laws of causality. If causality and its proper order are eliminated from the universe, it becomes very difficult to form a scientific theory in any field. For the clarification of this, we must point out a number of causal laws from the philosophical group [of laws] on which science rests.

These laws are the following: The principle of causality that asserts that every event has a cause; the law of necessity that asserts that every cause necessarily produces its natural effect, and that it is not possible for effects to be separate from their causes; the law of harmony between causes and effects that asserts that every natural group that is essentially in harmony must also be in harmony with respect to [its] causes and effects.

Thus, in light of the principle of causality, we know, for example, that the radiation emitted from the radium atom has a cause, which is the internal division in the content of the atom. Further, in light of the law of necessity, we find that this division necessarily produces the specific radiation when the necessary conditions are fulfilled. The presence of these conditions and the production of this radiation are inseparable.

The law of harmony is the basis of our ability to generalize the phenomenon of radiation and its specific explanation to all the radium atoms. Thus, we say that as long as all the atoms of this element are essentially in harmony, they must also be in harmony with respect to (p. 306) their causes and effects. If scientific experimentation discloses radiation in some of the.

radium atoms, it becomes possible to assert this radiation as a common phenomenon of all similar atoms, given the same specific circumstances. It is clear that the last two laws - that is, the law of necessity and the law of harmony - are the result of the principle of causality.

If there were no causality in the universe between some things and some other things - (that is,] if things happened haphazardly and by chance - it would not be necessary that, when there is a radium atom, radiation exists at a specific degree. Also, it would not be necessary that all the atoms of this element share the specific radiational phenomena.