About: Proximate and ultimate causation

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A proximate cause is an event which is closest to, or immediately responsible for causing, some observed result. This exists in contrast to a higher-level ultimate cause (or distal cause) which is usually thought of as the "real" reason something occurred. * Example: Why did the ship sink? * Proximate cause: Because it was holed beneath the waterline, water entered the hull and the ship became denser than the water which supported it, so it could not stay afloat. * Ultimate cause: Because the ship hit a rock which tore open the hole in the ship's hull.

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  • A proximate cause is an event which is closest to, or immediately responsible for causing, some observed result. This exists in contrast to a higher-level ultimate cause (or distal cause) which is usually thought of as the "real" reason something occurred. * Example: Why did the ship sink? * Proximate cause: Because it was holed beneath the waterline, water entered the hull and the ship became denser than the water which supported it, so it could not stay afloat. * Ultimate cause: Because the ship hit a rock which tore open the hole in the ship's hull. In most situations, an ultimate cause may itself be a proximate cause in comparison to a further ultimate cause. Hence we can continue the above example as follows: * Example: Why did the ship hit the rock? * Proximate cause: Because the ship failed to change course to avoid it. * Ultimate cause: Because the ship was under autopilot and the autopilot's data was inaccurate. * (even stronger): Because the shipwrights made mistakes in the ship's construction. * (stronger yet): Because the scheduling of labor at the shipyard allows for very little rest. * (in absurdum): Because the shipyard's owners have very small profit margins in an ever-shrinking market. (en)
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  • A proximate cause is an event which is closest to, or immediately responsible for causing, some observed result. This exists in contrast to a higher-level ultimate cause (or distal cause) which is usually thought of as the "real" reason something occurred. * Example: Why did the ship sink? * Proximate cause: Because it was holed beneath the waterline, water entered the hull and the ship became denser than the water which supported it, so it could not stay afloat. * Ultimate cause: Because the ship hit a rock which tore open the hole in the ship's hull. (en)
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  • Proximate and ultimate causation (en)
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