Universal causation is the proposition that everything in the universe has a cause and is thus an effect of that cause. This means that if a given event occurs, then this is the result of a previous, related event.[1] If an object is in a certain state, then it is in that state as a result of another object interacting with it previously.
The idea of universal causation is formulated in western philosophy similarly for ages[when?], however the formulations contain some profound differences in methodology and philosophical assumptions.
Examples:
In addition, everything that becomes or changes must do so owing to some cause; for nothing can come to be without a cause. — Plato in "Timaeus", c. 360 BC
Causality is universal. Nowhere in the world can there be any phenomena that do not give rise to certain consequences and have not been caused by other phenomena. — Alexander Spirkin in "Dialectical Materialism", 1984
In contrast, Bertrand Russell argued (in 1912) that the law of causation as usually stated by philosophers is false and is not used in sciences (maybe with exception of their infancy).[2] However his position on universal causation evolved and "was not as naive as it may have appeared".[3] In 1927 Russell writes that the notion of universal causation marks the beginnings of science and philosophy.[4]
Philosophers who do believe in exception-less, universal, fundamental laws of nature are in recent times more often referred to as "fundamentalists", however these who present "anti-laws" efforts (for instance showing that in many cases laws of sciences are ceteris paribus laws) "pluralists" are in the minority.[5]