Foundations of philosophy
Cause and Effect
The principle that events have causes and actions have consequences.
The big idea
Stephenson uses cause and effect as a foundational relationship. For a reader, it prompts a useful question: is the author describing an observation, proposing a cause, or reasoning from an assumption? Keeping those separate makes the argument easier to assess.
An everyday illustration
A wet sidewalk might follow rain, a sprinkler, or cleaning. Observing the effect starts an investigation; it does not identify the cause by itself.
An original illustration to help explain the idea, not a quotation or evidence of a biological mechanism.
In the author’s words
“Every effect has a cause and every cause has effects.”
1927 edition · PDF page 30
Explore this book
Short excerpts from the indexed edition; line breaks are normalized. PDF page numbers refer to the source file, and may differ from printed page numbers.
Read it in context
Principle 17 states a general relationship. It does not, on its own, demonstrate the cause of any particular condition.
Keep the question going
Explore cause and effect with Ask B.J.
How does the Green Books discussion of cause and effect help a new reader understand chiropractic philosophy? Explain simply, cite the relevant passages, and distinguish historical philosophy from current clinical evidence.
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