Ultimate Cause

A Ultimate Cause is a cause that explains an outcome.

• See: Proximate Cause.

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References

2014

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximate_and_ultimate_causation
  • 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 for 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 were inaccurate.

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