Humean definition of causality facts for kids

David Hume was a famous thinker from Scotland. He had a very interesting idea about how we understand cause and effect. He thought that we don't actually *see* a cause making something happen. Instead, we just see one event happen, and then another event happens right after it.

For example, imagine two billiard balls. One ball rolls and hits the other. The first ball stops, and the second ball starts moving. Hume would say we don't actually *see* the "cause" itself. We just see the first ball hit, and then we see the second ball move. This idea influenced how scientists define a "law" – like "if A happens, then B always happens."

Understanding Cause and Effect with David Hume

David Hume believed our minds aren't built to directly see the connection between a cause and its effect. He thought we only experience one event happening, and then another event following it.

What Hume Thought a Cause Is

In his book, A Treatise of Human Nature, Hume described a cause in two ways. He said a cause is:

• Something that happens *before* another thing and is *close* to it. And whenever similar things happen, they always happen in the same order.
• Something that happens *before* another thing and is *close* to it. When we think of the first thing, our mind automatically thinks of the second thing.

Hume's Rules for Finding Causes

Hume also gave some rules to help us figure out if things are connected by cause and effect. Here are some of the main ones:

• The cause and effect must be close together in space and time.
• The cause must happen *before* the effect.
• There must always be a connection between the cause and effect.
• The same cause always creates the same effect. Also, the same effect never happens unless it's from the same cause.

See also

• Humeanism