Q&A: Cause and Effect
Cause and Effect
Question
Rabbi, in the second notebook you argue that the reason an effect has a cause is not due to our experience, but that there is logical reasoning behind it. [And therefore Kant’s words are rejected.] But I don’t understand: according to this definition, why is it only something within our experience that needs to have a cause? If the definition were like Kant’s, this would be understandable, but if the basis of the argument is logical, then seemingly it applies both to things within our experience and to things outside it. Thanks, Dvir
Answer
It is not only due to our experience; rather, it is an interpretation of our experience. Just as every scientific generalization is not a result of our experience alone, but is made on the basis of empirical observations.