Criteria for Cause and Effect

One concept that I found interesting in Chapter 15 of Epstein’s text was the criteria for cause and effect. First and foremost, the cause and effect of the argument must have occurred and must be true, otherwise this concept cannot be applied. Second, the cause must come before the effect and cannot be reversed. It is also not possible for the cause to be true and the effect to be false (and vice versa). Additionally, “the cause makes a difference” (pg 307). In other words, if the cause had not occurred in the past, there would not be an effect resulting in no cause in the first place. Finally, the last necessary factor is that “there is no common cause” (pg 307). All of these need to be applicable to the argument in the current situation otherwise the concept of cause and effect cannot be used and applied in the scenario.