CHOOSING WHAT WE MEAN BY CAUSATION IN THE LAW.docx
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CHOOSING WHAT WE MEAN BY CAUSATION IN THE LAW.docx
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CHOOSINGWHATWEMEANBYCAUSATIONINTHELAW
FOREDUCATIONALUSEONLY
73Mo.L.Rev.433
MissouriLawReview
Spring,2008
Symposium:
ATributetoProfessorDavidFischer
*433CHOOSINGWHATWEMEANBY"CAUSATION"INTHELAW
JaneStapleton[FNa1]
Copyright©2008CuratorsoftheUniversityofMissouri;JaneStapleton
Inaradicalnewaccountof"causation"intheLaw,Iarguethat"causation"isatermweusetoexpressdiverseinformationabouttheworld.Clarityispromotedifweusetheterm"causation"torefertotheinformationyieldedbyonlyonetypeofinquiry.Lawyershaveusedthetermtorefertomorethanonetypeofenquiry,andphilosophersoftendonotspecifyaninquiry.Themostusefulinquiryforlegalpurposesisonethatcomparestheactualworldofaparticularphenomenonwithahypotheticalworldandtherebydetermines,inthecontextofthatcomparison,therolethataspecifiedfactorplayed,ifany,intheexistenceoftheactualphenomenon.Itisconvenienttoseparatethreeformsofsucharoleof"involvement":
necessity,duplicatenecessityandcontribution,thoughcontributionsubsumestheothers.Weuseourknowledgeofthephysicallawsofnature,evidenceofbehaviourandsoontodistinguishinvolvedfactorsfromfactorsthataremerely"associated"withthatphenomenonbyarelationofconstantconjunction:
adeterminationthatcanbedoneobjectively.IarguethatLawshouldunequivocallychooseinvolvementastheinterrogationunderlyingcausalterminologybecause(a)itpromotesclarityandavoidsambiguity;(b)itpromotestheclearidentificationofnormativeissuesandprovidesamoretransparentdistributionofissuesbetween"causation"andotheranalyticalelementswithinlegalanalysis;and(c)itbestservestheLaw'sverywiderangeofpurposes.
PartIofthisarticlesetsouttheaboveargument.PartIIsketchestheapproachofotherstotheissueof"causationintheLaw."
I.Involvement
A.GeneralLaws
Theworldisoutthere,seamlessandrollingalong,manifestingwhatwecallthephysicallawsofnatureincomplexconfluenceandcombinations.*434JustaswecandeconstructaparticularVanGoghpaintingweadmireintothethreeprimarycolours,sotoowecanuseavarietyoflimitedinterrogationstoinvestigatethiscomplexworldanddiscoveritsunderlyingbuildingblocksofphysicallaws.[FN1]Awell-knownexampleisNewton'sFirstLawofMotion:
inanisolatedsystem,anobjectwillmaintainaconstantvelocityunlessacteduponbyanunbalancedforce.
Weexpressthislatterpropositionasa"law"toindicatethatitapplies(orsoitseemsonthenon-quantumscale)inournaturalworld.Ofcourse,wecanimagineotherworldswherethispropositiondoesnotholdbecause,forexample,miracleshappenorwitchescastspells,andwecanacknowledgethatwedonotknowwhyitholdsinournaturalworld,[FN2]butthesepossibilitiesarenottheconcernoflawyerswhoareonlyconcernedwithournaturalworldandhypotheticalvariantsofitinwhichsuchphysicalprincipleshold.
Soifwecall"mediumnecessity"therelationthatinournaturalworld(andthehypotheticalvariantsofitinwhichlawyersareinterested)ifAdoesnotoccur,Balsodoesnotoccur,[FN3]Newton'sFirstLawofMotioncanbeexpressedinsuchterms:
inallpossiblerelevantvariantsofournaturalworldinwhichanobjecthasnotbeenacteduponbyanunbalancedforce,deviationfromconstantvelocitydoesnotoccur;or,inallpossiblerelevantvariantsofournaturalworld,absenceofanunbalancedforceis"necessary"foranobjecttomaintainconstantvelocity.WecanalsostatetheFirstLawintermsof"mediumsufficiency":
inallpossiblerelevantvariantsofournaturalworld,thatYdidnotoccurentailsthatxdidnotoccur.Forexample:
inallpossiblerelevantvariantsofournaturalworld,thatdeviationfromconstantvelocitydidnotoccurentails(i.e.issufficienttoestablishthetruthoftheproposition)thattheobjecthadnotbeenacteduponbyanunbalancedforce.
*435B.IndividualPhenomenaandSpecifiedFactors
Armedwithsuchknowledgeofgeneralphysicallawsandotherdatasuchaseyewitnesstestimonyofbehaviour,wecaninvestigateaparticularindividualphenomenon.Thisphenomenonmight,forexample,betheactualpersistenceofaspecifiedstate(thecannonballrestingonKant'scushion)ortheactualtransitionfromaspecifiedstatetoanother(thefalloftheapplefromthetreeontoNewton'shead).
Typicallyourinvestigationsintoaparticularphenomenonfocusonaspecifiedfactor-suchasaphysicalforce,theabsenceofsomething[FN4]oraspecificpieceofcommunicatedinformation.ImportantlyintheparticularcontextoftheLaw,thespecificationofthefactorispreciseandoftenarisesfromwhattheLawhasmandated:
iftheLawhadmandatedthatNewton'smothershouldholdanumbrellaaboveherson'sheadandMrs.Newtonomittedtodothis,onefactorofinterestwouldbethisabsence,specifiedas"Mrs.Newton'somissiontoholdtheumbrellaasmandated."
Oftenweareinterestedtocomparetheactualworldoftheparticularphenomenon(which,ofcourse,includesourspecifiedfactor)withahypotheticalworld(whichweconstructbynotionallyomittingthespecifiedfactorandsometimesotherfactors).Bydoingthiswecanthendetermine,inthecontextofthatcomparison,therolethespecifiedfactorplayed,ifany,intheexistenceoftheactualphenomenon.ImportantlyintheparticularcontextoftheLaw,thereisoftenneedtoconsiderahypotheticalworld,whichnotonlyneverexisted,[FN5]butwhichalsoisonewhichinretrospectisknowncouldnothaveexisted.Anexampleofsuchaworldisoneinwhicharetailerwouldhavemadea$30profitfromafarmerfulfillingacontractualpromisetodeliverpeasonacertaindayadeliverywhichturnedouttobeimpossible;inthecontextofthatcomparisonitisimportanttounderstandhowitisthatlawyersconveymeaningfulinformationwhentheysaythatthefarmer'scontractualbreach"caused"theretailertosuffera$30"loss"(seebelow).[FN6]
*436Astotherolethespecifiedfactormayhaveplayedintheexistenceoftheactualphenomenon,itisconvenienttoseparatethreeformsofrolewhichcollectivelyIcall"involvement"inordertoavoidcircularcausalterminology:
necessity,duplicatenecessityandcontribution(though,strictly,contributionsubsumestheothers,seebelow).Forexample,onehypotheticalworldwemightconsiderisoneidenticaltotheactualworldexceptthatthespecifiedfactorisabsentfromit.If,byapplyingourdatasuchasthephysicallawsofnature,weareconfidentthatinthishypotheticalworldtheparticularphenomenonwouldnothaveoccurred,wecanexpressthisinformationbysayingthatthespecifiedfactorwasinvolvedintheexistenceoftheactualphenomenonbybeing"necessary"forit.[FN7]
Toillustrate:
supposeMichael'sgardenerhadundertakenacontractualobligationtoMichaeltoprovideacertainamountofartificialwateringtoMichael'splant(e.g.twolitresperday).Intheactualworldthegardenerfailstoprovideanywatertotheplant,eventhoughhecouldeasilyhavedoneso;[FN8]andtheplantdies.WhenMichaelsueshisgardenerforbreachofcontract:
thespecificfactorofinteresttotheLawwillbetheomissionbythegardenertowatertheplantwithtwolitresperday;theparticularphenomenonofinterest,theoneaboutwhichMichaeliscomplaining,willbethe(actualtransitionto)thedeathoftheplant;andMichaelwillonlyrecovercompensationfromthegardenerfortheplant'sdeathifthespecifiedfactorplayedsomeroleinthatdeath,forexamplebybeingnecessary.
Todeterminewhetherthegardener'somissionwasinvolvedintheplant'sdeathbybeingnecessary,theLawcanconsider,usingourunderstandingofthephysicallawsofnatureandsoon,whatthefateoftheplantwouldhavebeenintheabsenceof("but-for")thespecifiedfactor:
namely,ahypotheticalworldinwhichthegardenerdidprovidetherelevantcontracted-foramountofartificialwateringtoMichael'splants.First,supposethattheplant*437wouldhaveflourishedhaditreceivedthatamountofwater:
[FN9]wecanexpressthisinformationbysayingthatthegardener'sbreachofcontractwasinvolvedintheactualdeathoftheplant,specificallybybeingnecessary.[FN10]Conversely,supposetheplantwouldstillhavediedinthesameway,timeandplacehaditreceivedthemandatedamountofwater:
again,wecanexpressthisinformationbysayingthatthegardener'sbreachofcontractwasnotinvolvedinthatdeath,atleastnotinthesenseofbeingnecessaryforit.[FN11]Notethattheinformationconveyedbythenotionof"involvement"iscontext-specific:
itdepends,forexample,onthespecificationoftheparticularphenomenonofinterestandthespecificationofthefactorofinterest.
Astothedataonwhichwedrawtoidentifyafactor's"involvement"intheparticularphenomenon,theseincludeevidenceofbehaviourandourknowledgeofthephysicallawsofnature,suchasNewton'sFirstLaw,whichallowustodistinguishbetweenalawfulregularitymanifestingthephysicallawsofnatureandthelaw-likeregularityofamereassociationsuchastheepiphenomenalfallofabarometerbeforeastorm.[FN12]
*438C.TheVarietyofInterrogationsintoaParticularPhenomenon
Whenweinvestigatewhetheraspecifiedfactorwasinvolvedintheexistenceoftheparticularphenomenon,wecanuseavarietyofinterrogationsrangingfromthebroadest-wasthefactorinvolvedinanyway?
-tomuchnarrowerinterrogationssuchasexplanationorblame.Importantly,thesedifferentinterrogationsyielddifferentsortsofinformation.Forexample,[FN13]takethecasewhere:
duetothecarelessne
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