Literary notes about causes (AI summary)
The term "causes" in literature is employed in a variety of contexts to denote the origin or explanation of events, phenomena, or characteristics. In many instances, authors use it to build logical or philosophical arguments—Plato and Hume, for instance, examine "causes" in relation to human behavior and universality ([1], [2], [3]), while economists such as Adam Smith attribute prosperity or scarcity to tangible causes ([4], [5]). Scientific and naturalistic works, like those of Charles Darwin and Immanuel Kant, similarly invoke "causes" to explain natural phenomena and biological development ([6], [7], [8]). The word also appears in moral, political, and even dramatic narratives—its use in discussions of war, corruption, or social evils (as in works by Plato, Tagore, and Hamilton et al.) reveals its broader cultural and ethical significance ([9], [10], [11], [12]). Across such varied fields, the term functions as a bridge linking observable events to their underlying principles, whether these be physical, moral, or metaphysical in nature.
- Plato is disposed to attribute the incredulity of his own age to several causes.
— from Laws by Plato - If at intervals, at what times principally does it return, and by what causes is it produced?
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - The first kind arises in the soul originally, from unknown causes.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - The plenty and cheapness of good land, it has already been observed, are the principal causes of the rapid prosperity of new colonies.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - In March 1764, there was a parliamentary inquiry into the causes of the high price of provisions at that time.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - Causes of the general belief in the immutability of species.
— from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - We can, however, see in a general manner that various causes might have interfered with the development of a long neck or proboscis.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - The actions of natural causes are, accordingly, themselves effects, and presuppose causes preceding them in time.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - And this is the origin of war, which may be traced to the same causes as other political evils.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - Has it not been one of the causes that raise the cry on these shores for preparedness to meet one more power of evil with a greater power of injury?
— from Nationalism by Rabindranath Tagore - The causes of hostility among nations are innumerable.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and James Madison - The JUST causes of war, for the most part, arise either from violation of treaties or from direct violence.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and James Madison